Finance Minister Hiroshi Mitsuzuka indicated support Tuesday for a proposal to issue a new type of government bond to the tune of 10 trillion yen to support financial institutions and put some life back into the economy.
The news was greeted on the Tokyo Stock Exchange with a 554.94-point rally in the Nikkei average. Mitsuzuka said the suggestion, initially made by former Chief Cabinet Secretary Seiroku Kajiyama, is "an ambitious, well thought-out proposal to stabilize the financial sector and prop up the economy."
On Monday, Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto instructed his Liberal Democratic Party to start debating the controversial plan, which runs counter to his pledge to carry out fiscal reconsolidation. "I am most interested in how deliberations within the party will proceed and, if the plan becomes a formal proposal from the party, we will support it," Mitsuzuka said.