JAPAN TODAY


 

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Tuesday his government will help reduce gasoline prices and energy costs for households as part of inflation relief steps.

Ishiba said the government will take measures to reduce the price of gasoline and diesel fuel by 10 yen per liter, and that of kerosene and heavy oil by 5 yen, from May 22.

From July to September, the government will help curb electricity and gas costs shouldered by households when energy demand typically rises partly due to the summer heat, with details to be decided in May.

The latest inflation-relief measures in the run-up to this summer's House of Councillors election come after a plan initially floated within the ruling camp to offer cash handouts was shelved.

The parliamentary election will be crucial for Ishiba, head of a minority government whose public support remains low in opinion polls, after the ruling coalition lost its majority of the more powerful House of Representatives last year.

Earlier in the day, Ishiba received a set of requests from his Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition partner, the Komeito party, urging the government to take steps to ease the pain of inflation and the expected fallout of higher U.S. tariffs announced by President Donald Trump.

The average price of gasoline is set to fall from around 185 yen per liter to about 175 yen, comparable to the levels seen shortly after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Ishiba said.

The government will tap existing funds that have been set aside for purposes other than those covered by regular or extra budgets.

Ishiba did not say how long the support for gasoline, kerosene and others would last, adding that it will depend on the outcome of ongoing cross-party talks on ending a gasoline surcharge.

The LDP-Komeito coalition and the Democratic Party for the People have been in talks to decide when to eliminate the gasoline surcharge currently in place.

Resource-poor Japan has been grappling with higher costs of imported energy, food and other products.

While Japan's inflation has been slowing in recent months, consumer prices, including energy and volatile fresh food, jumped 3.6 percent in March from a year earlier, also driven by surging rice prices.

The persisting inflation has largely offset strong gains in nominal wages, in a blow to households.