TOKYO, August 30. /TASS/. Head of Japan’s leading opposition party Yukio Edano believes that the outgoing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe left a number of unsolved economic tasks.

"The real salaries have not grown, although the rift between the social layers has. The number of workplaces has increased, but mostly thanks to temporary employment. In the current situation of pandemic, people’s lives are unstable. We failed to remove the deflation and achieve 2% inflation. Therefore, a lot of economic tasks remain unresolved," he said during debates. "Abe began with ‘abenomics’ and ended with ‘abemasks’."

In 2013, Abe’s government presented a new economic strategy which Japanese and world media dubbed "abenomics." It implied increased state spending for major project and stimulation of private investments; creation of special economic zones with preferential regimes; involvement of women in labor force. At the same time, the Bank of Japan initiated a policy of monetary easing, aiming to reach a 2% inflation, but this goal has never been reached.

During the coronavirus pandemic, the Japanese authorities decided to give out multiple use face masks to prevent the spread of the infection. The people immediately dubbed them "abemasks." The mask giveaway was announced before the announcement of allocation of approximately $930 of financial aid to every Japanese citizen. As a result, the giveaway was harshly criticized because the people believed that the move was going to be the only support they get; besides, the masks were provided one for each family, not every citizen.

On Friday, Abe, who led the Liberal Democratic Party and the Japanese government since 2012, announced his resignation over health problems. In August, he became the absolute leader in terms of service time as the Prime Minister of Japan (7 years and 8 months). The new Prime Minister elections are expected to take place in mid-September. Usually, the head of the ruling party becomes the new Prime Minister of Japan.