Armed with a strong grip on Japan's bureaucracy, Yoshihide Suga
knows which levers to pull to get results, say government and ruling party
officials who know him or have worked with him.
By Leika Kihara
and Tetsushi Kajimoto
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's new prime minister will pursue economic structural
reforms through a mixed bag of policies that target specific industries, rather
than a grand strategy to reshape society and boost long-term growth.
Armed with a
strong grip on Japan's bureaucracy, Yoshihide
Suga knows which levers to pull to get results, say government and ruling
party officials who know him or have worked with him.
But an initial
need to consolidate popular support means he will first target quick policy
wins that will later give him the political capital to pursue tougher reforms,
they said.
"He isn't
after visions. He's someone who wants to accomplish small goals one by
one," said political analyst Atsuo Ito, a former ruling party staff.
"He'll initially focus on pragmatic goals that directly affect people's
livelihood."
Suga has said he
will continue his predecessor Shinzo Abe's pro-growth "Abenomics"
strategy aimed at pulling Japan
out of deflation with heavy monetary and fiscal stimulus coupled with
structural reforms.
But unlike Abe,
Suga's plans for structural reforms will focus more on spurring competition,
rather than deeper social change.
For Suga, economic
reform will be a political priority in its own right, unlike Abe, whose reforms
were wrapped up in a broader political agenda that included the thorny challenge
of revising Japan's pacifist constitution.
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