Akhir 08, 1432 / March 13, 2011, SPA -- Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan on Sunday ruled out an immediate increase in taxes to fund reconstruction work after parts of the country were devastated by a massive earthquake followed by a tsunami, as dpa reported. Kan had met with the opposition to discuss a possible tax hike following the disaster, in which the death toll has now officially reached more than 1,200. Thousands more are still missing. Reconstruction work would create a lot of demand and Japan should not feel "pessimistic" about the economy, Kyodo news agency quoted the premier as saying. The country needed to stimulate its economy with a "New Deal" type measure, Kan said, referring to US president Franklin Roosevelt's bolstering of the US economy in the 1930s.
