Japan’s PM Kan survives leadership vote

14/09/10 11:57 CET

world news

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Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan on Tuesday survived a party leadership vote challenge by fellow Democratic Party lawmaker Ichiro Ozawa.

The two men disagree over how to revitalise the country’s economy.

MPs and party members voted for Kan to keep his job, sparing Japan a sixth leadership change in four years.

The 63-year-old prime minister wants to curb public spending and has proposed an 8.5-billion-euro stimulus package to revive growth.

Ozawa argues more money is needed to secure the recovery and did not rule out issuing more government debt.

Japan’s public debt is twice the size of its four trillion euro economy.

As Kan’s victory was confirmed, the yen hit a new 15-year high against the dollar.

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