Japan is postponing plans to raise its sales tax to 10 percent.
According to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday...
Tokyo will delay a sales tax hike from eight percent in April next year until late 2019.
He said the decision was made as economic weakness in China and the slowdown in emerging
markets could again push Japan into deflation.
Abe claimed he wants to speed up his Abenomics policy and stimulate economic growth.
The original plan was to raise the tax last year, but it was pushed back to April 2017
amid concerns the country's slow consumer spending could further weaken.