Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe intends to resign, reports say

CNBC reports that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe intends to resign for health reasons.

Abe plans to step down to deal with a health problem, national broadcaster NHK reported citing sources close to the prime minister. Kyodo News also reported that Abe plans to resign, citing a source from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

Reuters reported that a source close to a senior party official said Abe’s resignation was “a done deal.” 

Abe had been scheduled to hold a press conference at 5 p.m. local time.

Stocks in Japan briefly fell after the reports and the yen strengthened against the dollar.  

Those reports come after Abe’s recent hospital visits, which spurred concerns about his health. The Japanese leader visited a hospital twice in the last two weeks, according to NHK. 

Abe suffers from a chronic inflammatory bowel disease and had to previously step down as prime minister in 2007 following a flare up, Reuters reported. He returned to the top job after his party registered a landslide election victory in 2012. Abe’s current term does not end until 2021.

Since resuming the office of prime minister, Abe has sought to revive Japan’s lackluster economy through a policy package dubbed Abenomics.

While the coronavirus pandemic has hammered economies globally, Japan was already reeling from a drop in consumer spending after it hiked the consumption tax rate in October. The country entered a technical recession after its economy shrank at an annualized rate of 3.4% in the January to March quarter.

Japan’s economy contracted at an annualized rate of 27.8% in the April to June quarter, marking its third quarter of declines. Reuters reported that plunge wiped out gains from Abenomics stimulus policies.