Japanese policymakers are stepping up calls to raise the country’s minimum wage as part of a strategy to ensure households can boost consumption and revitalise the economy when Covid-19 curbs are removed and vaccines are rolled out, reports Reuters. Finance Minister Taro Aso said on Wednesday it was hard to reenergize the economy with monetary easing alone, calling on companies to help out by raising salaries for employees. “We must seek to raise Japan’s minimum wage to around JPY 1,000 (USD 9.11 per hour) from the current average of about JPY 900 (USD 8.20 per hour),” he said. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, earlier this week said the government will aim to raise the average minimum wage to JPY 1,000 (USD 9.11) “swiftly” to help improve living conditions for temporary workers hit hardest by the pandemic. The call comes as major Japanese firms are set to offer the lowest wage increases in eight years, a sign the pandemic is putting an end to the benefits brought on by former premier Shinzo Abe’s stimulus policies.