Japan mulls lifting casinos ban

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is pushing through economic policies that have been coined Abenomics (Getty)

A year after taking a huge gamble on reflating the struggling Japanese economy, prime minister Shinzo Abe is considering a possible lifting of the nation’s ban on casinos.

Abe toured Singapore’s two biggest casinos, the Marina Bay Sands and the Resorts World Sentosa, owned by Genting Singapore.

Moves towards liberalisation have been building with operators eyeing a potential £30 billion market in the world’s third-biggest economy.

His visit come as a VAT hike in April pushed inflation to 3.2 per cent, the highest since 1991, although industrial production slipped and household spending fell.

Abe embarked on a stimulus programme last year.