Japan PM Kishida launches flagship panel to look into wealth redistribution

FILE PHOTO: Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during a news conference at the prime minister's official residence in Tokyo, Japan October 14, 2021. Eugene Hoshiko/Pool via REUTERS

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's new Prime Minister Fumio Kishida launched a flagship council on Friday to work out a strategy to tackle wealth disparities and redistribute wealth to households, in what he describes as a "new form of capitalism."

The move is a crucial part of Kishida's economic policy that combines the pro-growth policies of former premier Shinzo Abe's "Abenomics" stimulus measures and efforts to more directly shift wealth from companies to households.