TOKYO — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has come under fire for his party’s proposal to reduce student debt for those who have children, as the country struggles to raise its low birthrate. Kishida has pledged “unprecedented” measures to tackle the country’s perennially low birthrate, and his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is reportedly drafting a set of policy recommendations on the issue for the government. ADVERTISEMENTBut the reported debt forgiveness plan has sparked anger. “This is a policy that requires a child in return for reducing scholarship debts, (it is) … a bad, unprecedented measure to tackle the low birthrate,” Ishigaki said. “We are discussing this as an expansion of support for child-rearing rather than a policy linked to childbirth,” he told TV Asahi.
