Reuters reports that the private-sector advisers to Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga called for raising minimum wages this fiscal year to stimulate private consumption.

The four advisers at the Council for Economic and Fiscal Policy called on the government to stick to its budget-balancing target as massive coronavirus-related spending has strained the industrial world's heaviest public debt burden.

The proposals, which were made at the council's gathering, could be reflected in government's mid-year policy guidelines, which will provide the basis for next fiscal year's budget, to be compiled in late December.

If the economy makes a progress towards normalisation with the help of vaccinations, real GDP is expected to return to pre-pandemic levels as early as this autumn, the advisers told the meeting.

However, downside risks warrant close attention, they added, given that a third state of coronavirus emergency was enacted for the capital, Tokyo, and some other areas in late April and has been extended until the end of this month.