Society

Abe: Raising minimum wage, while protecting jobs

Jun 04 (NHK) - Prime Minister Abe Shinzo says he maintains the goal of raising the country's minimum wage, while taking into account the situations of small- and medium-sized companies reeling from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Abe was speaking at a meeting on social security issues on Wednesday.

Last year, the Cabinet approved the plan to raise the minimum hourly wage to 1,000 yen, or about nine dollars, at an early date.

Abe said raising wages is important to keep a virtuous economic cycle going.

But he noted that the coronavirus pandemic has hit hard Japan's economy and employment. He stressed that the government and the private sector should give the top priority to protecting jobs.

Abe instructed the labor minister, Kato Katsunobu, to study how much the minimum wage should be raised, while considering the impact of the raise on small- and mid-sized businesses in difficulty.

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