Japan minister: Second-stage sales tax hike difficult if first stage fails

It will be hard to implement the planned sales tax hike to 10 percent in October 2015 if the first stage hike to 8 percent next April fails, Economic and Fiscal Policy Minister Akira Amari said Sunday. "There will be no following" sales tax hike if the sales tax hike to 8 percent causes an economic downturn, Kyodo News reported, citing Amari's speech on that day. The minister said that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe "has concerns that a failure would prevent the government from touching on the sales tax issue for the next 15 years." Abe, who is expected to announce the first stage of the sales tax hike on Tuesday, is aiming to increase revenues to cover swelling social security costs for Japan's aging population.