Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi was set to be quizzed by opposition parties in parliament for the first time on Wednesday, as her administration’s colossal new economic stimulus package came under the spotlight.
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 plan
