"Japanese Government to Implement COVID-19 Economic Stimulus Package Worth 575 Trillion Won"

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida
[Photo by AP]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Suhwan] The Japanese government plans to implement an economic stimulus package worth 55.7 trillion yen (approximately 575 trillion won).

On the 18th, Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported this, stating, "It is expected to be the largest stimulus package since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic last year."

According to the report, the government plans to officially approve this stimulus package on the 19th.

The size of the stimulus package announced in April last year reached 48.4 trillion yen (approximately 500 trillion won). Then, in December, an additional stimulus package worth 40 trillion yen (approximately 413 trillion won) was prepared.

Considering that the stimulus package executed during the 2008 global financial crisis, which swept the world, was only 15.4 trillion yen (approximately 159 trillion won), the newly proposed stimulus budget is regarded as exceeding expectations in scale.

Earlier, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida declared an expansion of distribution policies and announced plans to increase welfare spending for the middle class as part of the stimulus package.

Nihon Keizai Shimbun stated about the newly proposed stimulus package, "Subsidies for citizens and companies have increased significantly," and "Issuance of deficit-financing government bonds will be inevitable."

Previously, local media had estimated the size of the stimulus package at 40 trillion yen (approximately 413 trillion won), but the government is set to invest a budget far exceeding that amount.

Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported, "The stimulus package includes payments of 100,000 yen (approximately 1.03 million won) to all minors under 18 years old," and "There is also a plan to provide up to 2.5 million yen (approximately 25.8 million won) in support to companies."

However, the newspaper pointed out that policies to promote economic growth from a mid- to long-term perspective were not sufficiently included in the stimulus package.

Following the report, the Japanese stock market, which had been declining, rebounded and turned upward. As of 2:35 p.m., Japan's major stock index Nikkei 225 recorded 29,708.19, up 0.07% (19.86 points) from the previous trading day. The TOPIX index rose 0.29% (5.92 points) to 2,044.26 compared to the previous trading day.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.