Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi faced opposition questioning for the first time since unveiling her 21.3 trillion yen (US$136.5 billion) stimulus package, defending the debt-fuelled plan in parliament on Wednesday amid concerns over the yen’s slide and Japan’s worsening fiscal health.
During the session, Takaichi said the package was needed to support households struggling with rising costs, adding that her government would take “necessary measures” after assessing whether recent currency movements reflected economic fundamentals.
Takaichi’s cabinet signed off on the 21.3 trillion yen (US$136.5 billion) package on Friday, including 17.7 trillion yen in fresh spending – the largest stimulus since the pandemic and her first major economic gambit since taking office.
Cash handouts and subsidies form the core of the package, aimed at voters battered by inflation that has outpaced wage growth.
Headline measures include one-off payments to families of 20,000 yen per child, extended subsidies for winter power bills and local measures such as vouchers for rice and coupons for electricity.
Economists seem to be unanimously not in favour of this planMartin Schulz, policy economist