TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Friday he aims to reform the country's $1.2 trillion public fund as soon as possible, a prospect which has boosted shares in Tokyo and added further downward pressure on the yen.
Earlier this month, Abe appointed Yasuhisa Shiozaki, a proponent of diversifying the assets of the Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) away from government debt, to the post of health minister, whose job includes supervising the pension fund.
"I believe GPIF reforms are extremely important. I would like to review its portfolio as soon as possible," Abe told business leaders in a speech.
He did not specify how the assets should be reshuffled, but Shiozaki's previous calls to overhaul the GPIF have led to expectations that he could push for it to invest in riskier assets.
Abe also said he aimed to decide on whether to proceed with a plan to raise the sales tax to 10 percent from eight percent by the end of the year, after carefully examining economic conditions.
"We just cannot miss the chance of beating deflation. We need to watch carefully how the economy has recovered in July, August and September (before making the decision)," Abe said. Abe's government already raised Japan's sales tax to eight percent from five percent in April, sending domestic consumption into a sharp contraction.
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