Japan can withstand tax hike pain -BOJ Deputy Gov Nakaso

TOKYO, April 23 (Reuters) - The Japanese economy is resilient enough to absorb the effects of the sales tax hike that kicked in this month, Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Hiroshi Nakaso said on Wednesday.

"Personally, I believe that Japan's economy as a whole is resilient enough to absorb the effects of the consumption tax hike," Nakaso said in a speech in Kyoto, western Japan.

"The major reason for this are continued improvement in employment and income conditions and the absense of problems that existed in the previous 1997 tax hike," he said, according to the text of his speech released on the BOJ's website.

(Reporting by Leika Kihara; Editing by Dominic Lau)

Advertisement