TOKYO (Reuters)

Shigeru Ishiba, a former Japanese defense minister and leading candidate in the ruling party’s leadership race, stated there is “room to raise” corporate taxes, as reported by Kyodo News on Saturday.

“There are still firms that can bear the tax burden. I would like them to bear it a little more,” Ishiba said during an election-related webcast.

Shinjiro Koizumi, a former Japanese environment minister and front-runner in the Liberal Democratic Party’s leadership race, expressed his intention to introduce a carbon tax. He warned that if a carbon tax is not adopted, taxes will be imposed on trade with Europe, which is introducing such a tax.

Sanae Takaichi, minister in charge of economic security and another LDP leadership candidate, opposed tax hikes for several years. “We should not raise taxes at all until we see movement towards price stability, where demand exceeds supply,” she said.

Japan’s LDP, with a parliamentary majority, is set to elect a new leader on September 27, who will replace outgoing Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. (This story has been corrected to specify Saturday, not Friday, in paragraph 1)