Japan will compile a further 73.6 trillion yen (US$708 billion) economic stimulus package to speed up the country's recovery from its deep coronavirus slump, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said on Tuesday, Reuters reports.
The new package will include about 40 trillion yen in direct fiscal spending and initiatives targeted at reducing carbon emissions and boosting digital technologies, Suga said in a meeting with ruling party executives.
Suga's cabinet is set to endorse the stimulus package later today, which would bring the combined value of coronavirus-related stimulus to about US$3 trillion. Two previous packages this year worth a combined US$2.2 trillion focused on dealing with the immediate strain on households and business from the pandemic.
"We have compiled these measures to maintain employment, sustain business and restore the economy and open a way to achieve new growth in green and digital areas, so as to protect people's lives and livelihoods," Suga said at the meeting.
The plan includes a 2-trillion yen fund to promote carbon neutrality by 2050, 1 trillion yen to accelerate digital transformation and 1.5 trillion yen in subsidies to support restaurants hurt by shortened trading hours due to the virus. Investment in digital and green initiatives is an area Suga has laid out as his key priorities.
