ID :
95386
Thu, 12/17/2009 - 04:58
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/95386
The shortlink copeid
DPJ calls on Hatoyama to set income limit for child allowances+
TOKYO, Dec. 16 Kyodo -
The Democratic Party of Japan asked Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama on Wednesday
to set an income limit in providing allowances to families with children,
putting him at risk of breaking one of his major promises to the electorate,
amid budgetary constraints.
The DPJ said it wants to hold discussions with the Cabinet on the income
brackets that will be eligible for the allowance program commencing in fiscal
2010.
The program is a flagship pledge of the DPJ, which swept to power in a
landslide election victory in August.
During the election, the DPJ promised to provide monthly allowances of 13,000
yen in fiscal 2010 and 26,000 yen from fiscal 2011 for each child of junior
high school age or younger, regardless of income levels.
In a set of proposals submitted by DPJ Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa, the
party also called on the Cabinet to maintain most of the current additional
taxes imposed at the time of purchase on gasoline and automobiles, contrary to
its commitment during the election campaign.
The abolition of the provisional gas tax rate would lower gasoline prices by 25
yen per liter nationwide.
Combined with the allowance program, Hatoyama and the DPJ had hoped to boost
domestic demand by terminating the provisional tax rates, despite a projected
combined loss of about 2.5 trillion yen in revenues for the central and local
governments.
The DPJ, meanwhile, recommended that Hatoyama stick to the plan to make public
high-school tuition free and provide subsidies totaling 120,000 yen each year
for those attending private high schools from fiscal 2010, irrespective of
income levels.
''I would say these requests are from people across the country, rather than
from the party,'' Ozawa told Hatoyama, who is also president of the DPJ. ''I
hope they will be reflected as much as possible in the budget.''
Under a new framework, a team of DPJ lawmakers headed by Ozawa has screened
thousands of budgetary proposals from municipalities to the central government.
Upon receiving the proposals, the Hatoyama Cabinet, formed three months ago,
will make last-ditch efforts to finish drafting the fiscal 2010 budget by the
end of December.
But Hatoyama faces a rough road ahead in meeting his self-imposed deadline as
members of the Cabinet remain divided over whether to give more priority to the
DPJ's campaign platform than fiscal austerity.
Amid a shortfall in tax revenue and cuts to wasteful spending that have turned
out to be less than hoped, Hatoyama is increasingly finding it difficult to
raise money for all of his key economic promises, estimated to require about 7
trillion yen in fiscal 2010.
The proposals handed in by Ozawa, currently one of the most powerful figures in
Japanese politics, have added another daunting task for Hatoyama, who is
already struggling to build a consensus on many pressing issues among the
ruling coalition parties.
Symbolizing the chasm, the Social Democratic Party, one of the DPJ's two junior
coalition partners, submitted a request to Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi
Hirano urging the government to avoid setting an income limit for the
child-rearing allowance program.
In a related development, Finance Minister Hirohisa Fujii said Wednesday the
government is unlikely to finalize a key outline on fiscal 2010 tax reforms
until next week.
The delay will make the government's efforts to finish drafting the fiscal 2010
budget by the end of December even more difficult.
''Yes, you are right about that,'' Fujii said at a news conference when asked
whether the government is planning to postpone endorsement of the outline until
after Hatoyama returns to Tokyo on Saturday from climate change talks in
Copenhagen.
Members of the Tax Commission agreed Monday that they would try to hammer out
the specifics of tax reforms for the year starting April by Friday, instead of
Tuesday as they had hoped, after failing to come up with them initially on Dec.
11.
However, Fujii said the Hatoyama Cabinet remains committed to drawing up the
budget by the end of the year.
Fujii said the change of schedule is likely partly because the submission of
budgetary and tax requests to the Cabinet from the DPJ had not taken place
until Wednesday.
==Kyodo
The Democratic Party of Japan asked Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama on Wednesday
to set an income limit in providing allowances to families with children,
putting him at risk of breaking one of his major promises to the electorate,
amid budgetary constraints.
The DPJ said it wants to hold discussions with the Cabinet on the income
brackets that will be eligible for the allowance program commencing in fiscal
2010.
The program is a flagship pledge of the DPJ, which swept to power in a
landslide election victory in August.
During the election, the DPJ promised to provide monthly allowances of 13,000
yen in fiscal 2010 and 26,000 yen from fiscal 2011 for each child of junior
high school age or younger, regardless of income levels.
In a set of proposals submitted by DPJ Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa, the
party also called on the Cabinet to maintain most of the current additional
taxes imposed at the time of purchase on gasoline and automobiles, contrary to
its commitment during the election campaign.
The abolition of the provisional gas tax rate would lower gasoline prices by 25
yen per liter nationwide.
Combined with the allowance program, Hatoyama and the DPJ had hoped to boost
domestic demand by terminating the provisional tax rates, despite a projected
combined loss of about 2.5 trillion yen in revenues for the central and local
governments.
The DPJ, meanwhile, recommended that Hatoyama stick to the plan to make public
high-school tuition free and provide subsidies totaling 120,000 yen each year
for those attending private high schools from fiscal 2010, irrespective of
income levels.
''I would say these requests are from people across the country, rather than
from the party,'' Ozawa told Hatoyama, who is also president of the DPJ. ''I
hope they will be reflected as much as possible in the budget.''
Under a new framework, a team of DPJ lawmakers headed by Ozawa has screened
thousands of budgetary proposals from municipalities to the central government.
Upon receiving the proposals, the Hatoyama Cabinet, formed three months ago,
will make last-ditch efforts to finish drafting the fiscal 2010 budget by the
end of December.
But Hatoyama faces a rough road ahead in meeting his self-imposed deadline as
members of the Cabinet remain divided over whether to give more priority to the
DPJ's campaign platform than fiscal austerity.
Amid a shortfall in tax revenue and cuts to wasteful spending that have turned
out to be less than hoped, Hatoyama is increasingly finding it difficult to
raise money for all of his key economic promises, estimated to require about 7
trillion yen in fiscal 2010.
The proposals handed in by Ozawa, currently one of the most powerful figures in
Japanese politics, have added another daunting task for Hatoyama, who is
already struggling to build a consensus on many pressing issues among the
ruling coalition parties.
Symbolizing the chasm, the Social Democratic Party, one of the DPJ's two junior
coalition partners, submitted a request to Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi
Hirano urging the government to avoid setting an income limit for the
child-rearing allowance program.
In a related development, Finance Minister Hirohisa Fujii said Wednesday the
government is unlikely to finalize a key outline on fiscal 2010 tax reforms
until next week.
The delay will make the government's efforts to finish drafting the fiscal 2010
budget by the end of December even more difficult.
''Yes, you are right about that,'' Fujii said at a news conference when asked
whether the government is planning to postpone endorsement of the outline until
after Hatoyama returns to Tokyo on Saturday from climate change talks in
Copenhagen.
Members of the Tax Commission agreed Monday that they would try to hammer out
the specifics of tax reforms for the year starting April by Friday, instead of
Tuesday as they had hoped, after failing to come up with them initially on Dec.
11.
However, Fujii said the Hatoyama Cabinet remains committed to drawing up the
budget by the end of the year.
Fujii said the change of schedule is likely partly because the submission of
budgetary and tax requests to the Cabinet from the DPJ had not taken place
until Wednesday.
==Kyodo
