Shinzo Abe postpones Japan tax rise after warning of economic slump

PM moves to stave off potential drag on consumer spending as doubts rise over 'Abenomics' programme

Japan's prime minister, Shinzo Abe, is to postpone an unpopular tax rise in a last-ditch attempt to breathe life into the economy, reports said on Monday, days after he told fellow G7 leaders that the world was on the brink of a crisis comparable to the Lehman shock.

Abe reportedly told senior members of the Liberal Democratic party (LDP) that an increase planned for next April in the consumption, or sales tax, from the current 8% to 10%, would be delayed until October 2019.