TOKYO – A 50 per cent increase in average pay and a one quadrillion yen (S$8.88 trillion) economy will be the top campaign pledges for this summer’s Upper House election according to Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, as the date nears for voters to give their latest verdict on Mr Ishiba’s administration. 

“I’ve instructed senior party officials to make our top election pledge an aim to reach one quadrillion yen in nominal GDP by 2040 and increase average pay by 50 per cent or more from its current level,” Mr Ishiba told reporters in Tokyo on the evening of June 9. 

The pledge comes as Japan is set to deliver a verdict on Mr Ishiba’s premiership as his minority government negotiates lower tariffs with the Trump administration and battles soaring inflation at home, after his party suffered a bruising defeat in general elections last October. 

The government will lay out some basic principles for future economic policies by the end of the week, Mr Ishiba said, adding that he wanted to share an understanding with the broader public on what a strong Japanese economy might look like.

In 2024, the government had already had a goal of reaching one quadrillion yen in nominal GDP around 2040, but Mr Ishiba’s pledge gives it fresh attention.

Mr Ishiba added that it was important for the Japanese people to have a sense of security by achieving wage increases that exceed inflation.

To achieve a 50 per cent increase by 2040, average pay must increase by about 2.74 per cent per year, a little more than the nominal wage increases in recent months.

Japan’s nominal GDP in 2024 reached a record 609 trillion yen. 

“It’s a very ambitious goal that must be achieved,” Mr Hiroshi Moriyama, the Secretary-General of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party said on June 9 to reporters. 

The LDP is also eyeing a cash handout of about a few hundred dollars per person ahead of the summer elections to counter rising prices, the Yomiuri newspaper reported on June 10.

The LDP is still weighing whether to add an income cap to those who can receive the handout, according to the report. 

The pace of inflation in Japan accelerated in April, with consumer prices excluding fresh food rising 3.5 per cent from a year earlier compared to a 3.2 per cent gain in the previous month, according to data released by the Ministry of Internal Affairs in late May. 

Rice prices have been a large factor in pushing up those...