Japan Economy Chief Amari Faces Surgery With Reforms Undone

Japan’s economy chief will undergo

surgery for cancer as soon as next week, casting a cloud over

the future of a politician charged with crafting plans to revamp

industrial regulation and liberalize trade rules.

Akira Amari, 64, told reporters in Tokyo yesterday that he

has been diagnosed with an early stage of tongue cancer, and

submitted his resignation only to see Prime Minister Shinzo Abe

reject it. Amari has served as Abe’s point man for the growth-strategy pillar of the government’s campaign to end two decades

of economic stagnation.

Amari’s deputy, Yasutoshi Nishimura, will represent Japan

in trade talks starting tomorrow with countries including the

U.S. and Vietnam. The development came on the eve of the final

gathering of parliament for the year, a session that saw Abe

hold off from corporate income-tax cuts or nationwide labor

deregulations that economists have advocated to stoke growth.

“The growth strategy is being produced collectively by

bureaucrats and politicians so even if Amari is away from the

central arena of political decision-making for a while, the

impact will be quite limited,” said Kiichi Murashima, chief

economist at Citigroup Inc. in Tokyo. “The biggest problem in

the Abenomics growth strategy is that it’s not clear what Prime

Minister Abe wants to implement at this point.”

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average was up 0.3 percent at 10:05

a.m. today, having closed Dec. 3 at its highest since December

2007. The yen was down 0.1 percent at 101.93 versus the dollar.

Recovery Period

After the operation, Amari said his doctors told him he

will need two weeks in the hospital, and then a week or two of

rest at home before he can return to work.

Amari was hospitalized on Dec. 2, a day after meeting with

U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman for talks on the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact.

Abe and Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda, speaking

yesterday about the same time as Amari, projected confidence in

their reflation efforts. The prime minister said policy makers

will make the economy even better next year and Kuroda said the

economy is on track as forecast, moving towards the central

bank’s 2 percent inflation target.

The cabinet yesterday approved an 18.6 trillion yen ($182

billion) economic package to cushion the economic blow from a

sales-tax increase next April. The package includes 5.5 trillion

yen in spending and the government projects it will boost real

gross domestic product by about 1 percent and create about

250,000 jobs.

Among the deregulation agenda items waiting for 2014 is

identifying the locations for special zones that will enjoy

reduced regulation.

“The prime minister will need to set out a clear policy in

December-to-February before the various government ministries

and agencies consider policies for the following year,” UBS AG

economist Daiju Aoki wrote in a research note this week. “We

hope to see further deregulation in areas such as special

economic zones, the labor market, health-care, nursing and

agriculture.”

To contact the reporters on this story:

Masaaki Iwamoto in Tokyo at

miwamoto4@bloomberg.net;

Shamim Adam in Singapore at

sadam2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:

Paul Panckhurst at

ppanckhurst@bloomberg.net

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Japan’s Economy Chief Akira Amari

Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg

Japan’s economy chief Akira Amari told reporters in Tokyo today that he has been diagnosed with an early stage of tongue cancer, and had submitted his resignation only to see Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reject it.

Japan’s economy chief Akira Amari told reporters in Tokyo today that he has been diagnosed with an early stage of tongue cancer, and had submitted his resignation only to see Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reject it. Photographer: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg

Sept. 6 (Bloomberg) — A descendent of a 16th century samurai general, Japan’s Minister for Economic and Fiscal Policy Akira Amari is on the front lines of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s efforts to revive the world’s third-largest economy by overturning decades-old regulations and spurring investment.

Amari is featured as a key policymaker in Bloomberg Markets’ October special issue on the 50 Most Influential People in global finance. Bloomberg’s Andy Sharp reports. (Source: Bloomberg)

Sept. 4 (Bloomberg) — Bloomberg Markets senior editor Robert Dieterich talks about the magazine’s “50 Most Influential” list, featured in the October issue. Dieterich discusses Michael Woodford, professor Columbia University; Paul Achleitner, supervisory board chairman of Deutsche Bank AG; Akira Amari, Japan’s economy minister; Mary Erdoes, chief executive of JPMorgan Asset Management and Alisher Usmanov, founder of OAO Metalloinvest Holding. (Source: Bloomberg)

Enlarge image

Japan’s Economy Chief Akira Amari and Deputy Yasutoshi Nishimura

Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg

Japan’s Economy Chief Akira Amari, left, shakes hands with deputy Yasutoshi Nishimura, who will represent Japan in trade talks starting in two days with countries including the U.S. and Vietnam.

Japan’s Economy Chief Akira Amari, left, shakes hands with deputy Yasutoshi Nishimura, who will represent Japan in trade talks starting in two days with countries including the U.S. and Vietnam. Photographer: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg

Japan Economy Chief Amari Faces Surgery With Reforms Undone