TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister KISHIDA Fumio said Thursday that the country will introduce a new system designed to cushion the impact of surging electricity fees.

“As natural gas prices continue to soar, a further increase (in electricity fees) will be unavoidable,” Kishida told reporters at the prime minister’s office.

Electricity fees may rise by some 20 to 30 pct in next spring and later, he said. “With the envisaged new system, the government is resolved to protect people’s lives and corporate activities,” he said.

Kishida will instruct officials Friday to put together a package of comprehensive economic measures.

The package will have three pillars–a response to soaring prices and a weak yen, structural wage increases, and investment and reform for growth, Kishida said.

Spiking energy and food prices and concerns over a global economic downturn pose risks to the Japanese economy, he said. “We’ll do our best to address higher prices while putting top priority on reviving the economy,” he said.

Kishida said that his government aims to adopt the economic package at the end of October.

The government plans to submit a supplementary budget to finance the package to parliament in November.

Some members of Kishida’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party call for an economic package worth at least 30 trillion yen.

JIJI Press