Japan to get 2% GDP stimulus, Yosano says

HORSHAM, England (Kyodo) Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano said Friday he told U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner that Japan will use fiscal stimuli worth more than 2 percent of its gross domestic product — or about ¥10 trillion — to fight the global economic crisis.

After meeting Geithner ahead of a two-day gathering of Group of 20 financial leaders, Yosano said he and Geithner agreed to give top priority to pulling the global economy out of the crisis.

The International Monetary Fund has called on countries to introduce fiscal stimulus equivalent to 2 percent of each country's aggregate GDP. It said last week that only the United States, Saudi Arabia, China, Spain and Australia are moving toward the target.