Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda will slash his salary by 30 percent in an attempt to win public approval of an 11.2-trillion-yen ($147 billion) tax hike for post-quake reconstruction work, sources said.
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda will slash his salary by 30 percent in an attempt to win public approval of an 11.2-trillion-yen ($147 billion) tax hike for post-quake reconstruction work, sources said.
He also plans to reduce the pay of Cabinet ministers and senior vice ministers by around 20 percent, the sources said.
Noda will announce the plans in his policy address at both houses of the Diet on Oct. 28.
On that day, the government will submit a third supplementary budget and a bill to secure revenue for rebuilding from the March 11 Great East Japan Earthquake, mainly through increases in income and other taxes.
Noda concluded that his Cabinet and the government in general need to share the pain if they raise taxes for the reconstruction measures.
In his policy address, Noda will endorse plans to lower the salaries of central government employees by 7.8 percent on average despite the National Personnel Authority's recommendation for a 0.23-percent cut.
And after facing public criticism for building housing for civil servants in Asaka, Saitama Prefecture, Noda will also promise government restructuring measures.
When Noda formed his Cabinet, the prime minister, Cabinet ministers and senior vice ministers decided to voluntarily return 10 percent of their salaries to national coffers.
Noda receives about 2.22 million yen a month after the return. A 30-percent cut will translate into about 600,000 yen.
Cabinet ministers receive about 1.62 million yen each.
The pay cuts, which will also cover parliamentary secretaries, are expected until March 2014.
A monthly cut of 500,000 yen in the salaries of all Diet members, introduced after the March 11 earthquake, ended in September.