TOKYO, June 25 (RIA Novosti) - Japanese prime minister and other top officials will return their summer bonuses to the treasury, as a gesture to show they are taking responsibility for mishandled pension records, the chief cabinet secretary said Monday.
Numerous data-entry errors made in an effort to computerize Japan's pension system have left millions of pension payments to citizens unaccounted for. The government has pledged to rectify the situation within three years.
Yasuhisa Shiozaki said Prime Minister Shinzo Abe would contribute 2.34 million yen ($19,500), or half his summer bonus, to the treasury. Shiozaki himself and Health Minister Hakuo Yanagisawa will pay back 940,000 yen (over $7,800) each.
The pension issue has brought the rating of the Abe-led Cabinet down to a record low. With elections to the upper house parliament set for late July, the government's support rate is hovering at around 30%.
