Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet on Thursday approved an economic stimulus package worth ¥18.6 trillion in a bid to avoid a sharp economic downturn following the planned 3-percentage-point sales tax hike to 8 percent next April.
The government is expected to spend ¥5.5 trillion of the package, centering on measures to promote reconstruction work in areas hit hard by the March 2011 quake-tsunami disaster and new infrastructure investment ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
The latest stimulus package, which will also entail local government spending for public works projects and grants to support smaller firms' financing, would be as large as the one worth around ¥20 trillion mapped out in January to boost Japan's lethargic economy, which was suffering from chronic deflation and a stronger yen.