Japan Press Weekly

Tweet

2016 May 25 - 31 [ECONOMY]

Shii: Abe’s argument about pre-Lehman crisis situation fits more with current state of Japanese economy

Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo on May 29 in his speech at an assembly held in Shizuoka City took up Prime Minister Abe Shinzo’s argument that the current global economy shows the similarity in the situation just before the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008. Shii said that Abe’s argument fits more with the current situation of the domestic economy.

Shii noted that in a press conference held after the G7 Summit meeting PM Abe compared the current global economic situation with that before the 2008 Lehman Shock. Shii said that Abe is the only world leader who made such a comparison. He pointed out that the G7 Summit Leaders’ Declaration clearly states that the global recovery continues.

Japan’s personal consumption posted a negative growth for two straight years, in FY2014 and FY2015, for the first time since the end of WWII. The JCP chair said that the current situation of consumer spending is severer and more prolonged than in the aftermath of the Lehman Shock.

Shii stressed that the failure of the Abenomics economic policy and the consumption tax hike has led to such a dire domestic economic condition. He criticized Abe for shifting the responsibility of his misgovernment onto the state of the global economy. Shii said that Abe, who refuses to reflect on his failed policies, is too irresponsible and reckless to be the national leader.

Shii said, “PM Abe is not qualified to steer the Japanese economy. We demand that the prime minister immediately resign from the post and dissolve his Cabinet.” His comment received an enthusiastic round of applause.

Japan’s real GDP growth rate stood at 0.5% in 2015. The IMF forcasts that the rate will be 0.5% in 2016 and -0.1% in 2017, which means that Japan’s economic performance is expected to be at the bottom among the G7 countries for three consecutive years.

Under the Abe government, the number of non-regular employees increased by 1.67 million between 2013 and 2015 while the number of regular employees decreased by 360,000 during the same period. Real wages per worker declined for four consecutive years since 2012, dropping by 5% to the lowest level in 26 years.

Past related articles:
> Shii demands cancellation of tax hike plan, citing decline in both wages and consumer spending [May 19, 2016]
> Abe should acknowledge failure of ‘Abenomics’ and cancel consumption tax hike plan [March 25, 2016]