Bloomberg, January 24, 2005
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said he wanted to discuss an overhaul of the country's pension plan in parliament and whether the sales tax should be used to help finance the system.
``The use of consumption tax would obviously be an issue up for consideration,'' Koizumi told lawmakers in Tokyo today. ``But there also needs to be a discussion of whether it should be applied to pensions alone. We should discuss the issue of the unification of pension, medical care and other systems overall.''
Koizumi has ruled out any increase in the 5 percent sales tax during his term, which ends in September 2006. Koizumi, in power since April 2001, has said he won't seek another term.
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