AMN
The Japanese government has approved a comprehensive economic package worth about 250 billion dollars, as it seeks to shore up consumer spending amid rising prices.
The package, adopted at an extraordinary Cabinet meeting yesterday, includes subsidies to mitigate the negative impact of higher energy prices and cash handouts to low-income households, as disposable incomes are whittled away by price hikes. Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba told that wage growth is necessary for expansion in the broader economy.
To fund the package, Ishiba’s government will try to pass a 13.9 trillion yen supplementary budget for the fiscal year through March 2025 during an extraordinary parliamentary session expected to convene next Thursday. In the stimulus package, Ishiba’s administration also pledged to raise the tax-free income threshold.