The following are key points of the government's stimulus plan:
1) The package will exceed 23 trillion yen, making it the largest ever implemented.
2) The package will aim to achieve positive economic growth in gross domestic product in fiscal 1999.
3) Some 5.9 trillion yen will be set aside to help small and midsize companies that are having difficulty raising funds for their daily operations.
4) Projects geared for the 21st century such as an "information highway" and fiber-optic network as well as a next-generation transport system will be promoted.
5) Measures to double living space will be implemented.
6) A special job creation fund will be established to subsidize companies that conduct job training for their employees.
7) Income tax cuts totaling 4 trillion yen will be carried out, and the corporate tax rate will be lowered to the international level of 40 percent.
8) The Fiscal Structural Reform Law, which places spending caps on key areas, will be frozen.
9) To help reconstruct the Asian economy, financial assistance will be extended to affected countries by utilizing such mechanisms as the Export-Import Bank of Japan and a newly created fund for alleviating Asia's financial crisis.