Japan’s Fumio Kishida is staking the future of his premiership on a $113bn stimulus plan centred on tax cuts and cash handouts, as he seeks to tackle high inflation and record-low approval ratings.
Kishida’s gambit follows a dramatic reversal of fortunes for the prime minister, who had seized on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to increase defence spending and scored a series of diplomatic wins including a historic rapprochement with South Korea.
Japan’s prime minister on Thursday announced a sweeping stimulus package of about ¥17tn ($113bn), of which ¥13tn will be funded by a supplementary budget for the remainder of the fiscal year through March 2024.