Shinzo Abe announces candidacy for LDP leadership to promote wage growth in Japan.

Japanese reformist, and current Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Taro Kono, stated that he will immediately formulate new economic measures to combat inflation, and plans to increase average salaries by 1 million yen within five years. Kono announced his policy proposals on Saturday, stating that he will lower gasoline taxes, comprehensively reform income taxes, and use the growth in tax revenues to stimulate economic development. In addition to the salary growth target, he also plans to increase Japan's investment scale by 135 trillion yen by the fiscal year 2030. Kono officially announced his candidacy for the presidency of the Liberal Democratic Party at a press conference in Tokyo, stating, "My top priority is to address the urgent issue of high prices facing the people, and restore a sense of security and stability to their lives." As the current Minister of Agriculture in Japan, Kono pointed out, "We will prioritize the economy, strive to increase salaries, expand investments, and achieve national income growth exceeding the inflation rate." He stated that the prerequisite for achieving the salary growth target is for the inflation rate to reach 2%, with a nominal wage growth rate of 3% per year. As part of comprehensive tax reform, Kono mentioned introducing a system to adjust the tax-exempt portion of income based on the growth of prices and wages.