(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet on Tuesday approved a JPY 13.1 trillion (USD 146.5 billion) extra budget for the current fiscal year to finance a stimulus package aimed at boosting the flagging economy.
The supplementary budget for the fiscal year through March 31, endorsed at an extraordinary Cabinet meeting, is the biggest since the first supplementary budget for fiscal 2009.
Of the total, about JPY 2.2 trillion (USD 24.6 billion), the biggest portion of the budget, will be used for construction of more quake-resistant infrastructure, and JPY 1.8 trillion (USD 20.1 billion) will be spent to promote private investment. The Cabinet plans to issue fresh government bonds to raise JPY 7.8 trillion (USD 87.2 billion) to partly fund the budget, bringing the total bond issuance this fiscal year to JPY 52 trillion (USD 581.6 billion).
"We put our top priority on such issues as the strong yen and ways to get out of deflation," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference. "But we should maintain fiscal discipline while implement measures, " the top government spokesman said. The government will submit the bill to parliament later this month.
On Friday, Abe announced a JPY 10.3 trillion (USD 115.2 billion) economic stimulus package aimed at increasing gross domestic product (GDP) by about 2 percentage points and creating about 600,000 jobs. Including spending by central, local governments, and the private sector, the fresh stimulus package is expected to be worth JPY 20.2 trillion (USD 225.9 billion). It was Abe's first stimulus package since he took office on Dec. 26.
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