Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Thursday the government will spend over 17 trillion yen ($113 billion) in a package of measures to cushion the economic blow from rising inflation, which will include tax cuts.
To fund part of the spending, the government will compile a supplementary budget for the current fiscal year of 13.1 trillion yen, Kishida told reporters.
Inflation, fuelled by rising costs of raw materials, has kept above the central bank's target of 2% for more than a year, weighing on consumption and clouding the outlook for an economy making a delayed recovery from scars left by COVID-19.
The rising cost of living is partly blamed for pushing down Kishida's approval ratings, piling pressure on the prime minister to take steps to ease the pain on households.
With increases in wages proving too slow to offset rising prices, Kishida had said the government will cushion the blow by returning to households some of the expected increase in tax revenues generated by solid economic growth.
($1 = 150.5100 yen)
