State Discussing JT Share Sale for Reconstruction

Source from:  Japan Times 08/11/2011

The government is considering selling part of its shareholdings in Japan Tobacco Inc. to secure funds for reconstruction work in the devasted Tohoku region, lawmakers said Wednesday. The Democratic Party of Japan-led government, headed by Prime Minister Naoto Kan, has begun consultations for the sale, which is expected to raise some ¥600 billion. The government is considering reducing its stake in JT, a former government-designated monopoly now listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, to about 33 percent from the current 50 percent over five years through March 2016. This would allow the government to maintain the right of veto in any important management decisions. For the sale to proceed, the government needs the Diet to pass a bill to revise a law obliging the state to hold a stake of no less than 50 percent. The government held ¥1.740 trillion worth of JT shares as of the end of March 2010. Officials have said the government is considering a provisional tax hike to raise some ¥10 trillion to finance reconstruction works. But amid strong opposition - even from within the ruling party - to increasing the financial burden on the public, it is planning to limit the envisaged tax hike, using proceeds from the sale of JT shares instead. Over 144,000 jobs lost KYODO Sendai - The number of people who have lost their jobs and become eligible for unemployment benefits since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in the three hardest-hit prefectures totaled 144,568 as of the end of July, almost double the figure for the same period last year, local labor officials said Tuesday. The actual figures were likely to be even higher if those not enrolled in employment insurance were included. The tally shows that local authorities in Fukushima, Iwate and Miyagi prefectures are still faced with pressing unemployment issues almost five months after the disaster and subsequent nuclear crisis. The tally includes those who left their jobs due to resignation or dismissal and have been unable to find work. The situation was most severe in areas hit hard by the ongoing crisis at the radiation-leaking Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, where the figures increased by around ten- to thirteenfold. Enditem