Light is cast on a Japanese 10,000 yen note as it’s reflected in a plastic board in Tokyo, in this February 28, 2013 picture illustration. REUTERS/Shohei Miyano/File Photo
November 18, 2021
By Leika Kihara and Tetsushi Kajimoto
TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan’s fresh pandemic-relief stimulus package due out on Friday will include spending of at least 30 trillion yen ($263 billion) and aim to give the economy a boost from early next year, government and ruling party officials said.
The size of the spending could approach 40 trillion yen depending on deliberations between the government and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which are finalising details of the package, they said.
“It will roughly be around that size,” a government source told Reuters, when asked whether the package could be around 30-40 trillion yen. The view was echoed by two more officials, all of whom spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to speak publicly.
“Payouts and subsidies ought to be delivered as quickly as possible,” the source said, adding the boost to economic growth will likely start to appear in the January-March quarter.
LDP Secretary-General Toshimitsu Motegi also said on Thursday an extra budget of more than 30 trillion yen would send a “big message” to markets, according to Kyodo news agency.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will hold a cabinet meeting on Friday to approve the package, which will be funded by money left over from state reserves and an extra budget for the current fiscal year ending in March 2022.
Japan’s economy contracted much faster than expected in the third quarter as global supply disruptions and coronavirus pandemic curbs hurt exports and consumption.
($1 = 114.0600 yen)
(Reporting by Leika Kihara and Tetsushi Kajimoto; Additional reporting by Kaori Kaneko, Takaya Yamaguchi and Yoshifumi TakemotoEditing by Chang-Ran Kim and Kim Coghill)
