Japanese minister- President Fumio Kishida said he would step down in September, ending a three-year term marred by political scandals and paving the way for a new prime minister capable of dealing with the effects of rising prices, reported Reuters, writes BTA.
"I will continue to do everything I can as prime minister until the end of my term in September," Kishida said today at a televised press conference announcing his decision not to seek re-election as Liberal leader - the Democratic Party (LDP).
His decision to step down is sparking a race to replace him at the head of the party, as well as to lead the world's fourth-largest economy, Reuters notes.
Public support for Kishida has waned amid revelations about the party's ties to the controversial Unification Church and, more recently, unregistered political donations to fundraising parties organized by the LDP.
Kishida's successor, which the LDP chooses, will have to unite the fractured ruling party and deal with the likely further rise in the cost of living, escalating geopolitical tensions with China, and the potential return of Donald Trump Trump as president of the USA next year.
Kishida led Japan out of the covid pandemic with huge spending to support the economy. He later appointed Kazuo Ueda, an academic, to head the Bank of Japan, whom he tasked with ending the radical monetary stimulus introduced by his predecessor.
In July, the Bank of Japan unexpectedly raised interest rates as inflation picked up, adding to stock market volatility and sending the yen sharply lower.
Kishida abandoned an economy based on corporate profits in favor of policies aimed at raising household incomes, including wage increases and encouraging stock ownership.