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• Japan Considers Higher Tobacco Taxes 

Japan's new administration is considering raising cigarette taxes to European levels to help pay for an ambitious domestic spending plan, in a potential threat to partially state-owned Japan Tobacco Inc.

Shares of Japan Tobacco, the world's third largest cigarette company by sales volume after Altria Group Inc. of the U.S. and British American Tobacco PLC of the U.K., fell more than 4% Monday before recovering and ending down 0.9% to 254,300 yen, or $2,825.02. The sharp moves followed commments Sunday by a top Japanese health official during a television interview that raised the possibility.

''Tobacco poses health problems. It may be necessary to raise it [the tobacco tax] to the levels in Europe," said Akira Nagatsuma, minister of health, labor and welfare.

The health ministry already has asked the government's tax panel to increase the tobacco tax as part of fiscal 2010 tax reforms. An increase of 10 yen per cigarette - 10 times the amount of previous increases - is currently being debated.

Cigarettes in Japan are among the cheapest of any developed nation

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