TOKYO, June 10 (Xinhua) -- Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba called for boosting the country's nominal gross domestic product (GDP) to 1,000 trillion yen (about 7 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2040 from around 600 trillion yen in 2024.
At an executive meeting with his ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) on Monday, Ishiba also said Japan should seek to achieve an over 50 percent increase in average income in the same time frame.
Ishiba instructed LDP executives to consider the goals "the most important pledge" in its campaign for the House of Councillors, or upper house, election this summer, which will replace half of the 248-member chamber.
"I wanted to share with Japanese people what specifically a strong economy will look like," Ishiba told reporters.
Through the goals, Ishiba hopes to differentiate the LDP from opposition parties, which have featured consumption tax cuts as their main campaign pledges.
The main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan is seeking to temporarily remove the consumption tax on food, currently at 8 percent, and offer cash handouts. Party leader Yoshihiko Noda said Monday that combatting inflation is a major theme for the upcoming upper house contest. ■
