Japan rolls out $150bn stimulus

Tokyo - Japan's Prime Minister Taro Aso on Friday formally announced $150bn in emergency stimulus spending to revive Asia's biggest economy as it heads for its worst crisis in decades.

A day after the ruling party announced the ¥15.4-trillion injection - worth 3% of Japan's gross domestic product - the Aso cabinet gave it the green light.

"We are implementing a resolute policy in the form of economic crisis measures in order to protect the livelihoods of the people," Aso told a press conference shortly before he was to leave for a regional summit in Thailand.

"The first of our objectives is to prevent the economy from falling through the floor. Another objective is to give a sense of security to the people."

The plan includes money for clean energy generation, elderly and health care, employment support and the promotion of cultural products and tourism.

The spending - which still requires parliamentary approval - is part of a wider package worth about ¥56.8 trillion ($570bn) when loan guarantees and other non-spending measures are included.

The plan was given the formal go-ahead by the cabinet at an early afternoon meeting, a cabinet office official said.

The latest injection comes on top of stimulus measures approved by parliament since October that were worth a combined ¥75 trillion, of which actual fiscal spending was about ¥12 trillion.

Plummeting worldwide demand for Japanese cars, machinery and high-tech goods has put Japan on course for its worst economic slump since World War II.

- AFP