Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio says he may dissolve the Lower House of the Diet to call a snap election before a planned tax increase to finance a bigger defense budget. The government has said the taxes will be raised at an appropriate time in 2024 or later.

Kishida appeared on a news program on a commercial broadcaster on Tuesday evening.

He said the government has yet to decide when people will start paying more taxes, but he thinks that a general election will be held by that time.

The government and the ruling coalition had agreed to raise taxes to cover an annual defense budget shortfall of more than 1 trillion yen, or about 7.5 billion dollars, which is expected to accrue from fiscal 2027 onward.

The policy chief of the main governing Liberal Democratic Party indicated on Sunday that a snap election is needed before the tax hike to seek a public mandate.

Also on the program, Kishida elaborated on a remark he made earlier on Tuesday that he has no plan for a Cabinet reshuffle during the New Year holidays.

He said he won't reshuffle the Cabinet in coming days, but he didn't rule out making such a move at a later date.