JAPAN: Kan: Tax hike doable, just needs proper sell

The government is ready to increase taxes to reduce the massive public debt, Finance Minister Naoto Kan indicated Monday, saying the only catch is to present it in a way that will convince voters.

"It is not just a case of Japan. But politicians, whether they are in the ruling or opposition camps, (face the) trauma (of losing) an election if they speak about a tax hike," Kan said at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan.