Sworn in earlier this October, the new prime minister Japanese, Fumio Kishida, assumed the leadership of the country with a speech focused on rebuilding the economy, which was punished by the pandemic and restrictive measures of Covid-19. In his speech, he promised to encourage the country's growth through policies to reduce the income disparity, in a policy he calls "new capitalism".
Expectations of improvement in Japan began in early October, with the end of the state of emergency that had been in place in 19 of Japan's 47 prefectures for several months. More than 60% of the population is fully immunized and is experiencing days of new normality. In addition to the positive outlook on the health issue, the installation of the office of the 100th premier in the history of Japan, Fumio Kishida, has been encouraging the Japanese market and people.
“The battle against the coronavirus continues. We need to face the coronavirus to bring economic and social activities back to normal and build a new economy, a new lifestyle, a new era,” he declared, after taking office with the immediate intention of revitalizing the economy. In addition to economic growth, this new proposal that the premier refers to as “new capitalism” aims to create policies that reduce the income disparity.
To implement his idea and distribute wealth, he believes that one of the guidelines will be to adjust the income tax rate. The increase in collection of the richest will subsidize actions and policies for the poorest. The consumption tax, which is levied on the sale of products, will not see an increase for “about a decade”. According to Kristi Govella, director of the German Marshall Fund's Asia program in the US, “Kishida's hope is that economic growth and wealth redistribution will interact in a virtuous cycle. But there are some people who fear that he will prioritize redistribution, and end up affecting growth in the process.”
post-pandemic japan
In Brazil, one of the measures proposed by politicians to revitalize the post-pandemic economy is to regulate casinos integrated into resorts. As in the case of Japan, the motive is to increase state revenue and direct funds to programs in the base sectors of society. For now, gambling fans can only enjoy online casinos based abroad, as a regulation for the physical version of these establishments here has not yet been approved. On the bright side, virtual gaming platforms are safe and respected around the world, offering a wide range of table games, slot machines, and even bingo.
Post-pandemic Japan is being very different for now, as one of the prime minister's first actions was to announce an early parliamentary election. Despite being scheduled for November, the vote was moved to October 31. Analysts believe that this decision was made to take advantage of this good moment of the beginning of the government and the optimism caused by the control of the coronavirus in Japan.
Also, as part of his economic proposal, he promised government subsidies to help small and medium businesses. Kishida also said he will open a permanent panel to propose actions to boost the country's economic growth. A possible action will be the “Go To Travel” campaign, with the objective of leveraging domestic tourism. This program already existed between July and December of last year, subsidizing discounts of up to 50% on travellers' expenses - however, with the increase in Covid-19 cases and declarations of states of emergency, he was suspended.
On September 30th, the last state of emergency ended, and that is why the government wants to resume the campaign. According to the new minister of tourism, Tetsuo Saito, “it is important to balance the prevention of contagion and the promotion of tourism”. For now, the border for international tourists is closed, and the expectation is that it will remain so until 2022.
