Abe pledges a never-before stimulus worth 20% of GDP

TOKYO — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged on Monday to roll out an unprecedented economic stimulus package, equal to 20 per cent of economic output, as his government vowed to take “all steps” to battle deepening fallout from the coronavirus.

The package, to be confirmed by the cabinet on Tuesday, will total 108 trillion yen ($989 billion), far exceeding one compiled in the wake of the 2009 financial crisis totalling 56 trillion yen in size, with fiscal spending of 15 trillion yen.

— Japanese Prime TOKYO Minister Shinzo Abe pledged on Monday to roll out an unprecedented economic stimulus package, equal to 20 per cent of economic output, as his government vowed to take “all steps” to battle deepening fallout from the coronavirus.

The package, to be confirmed by the cabinet today, will total ¥108 trillion ($989 billion), far exceeding one compiled in the wake of the 2009 financial crisis totalling 56 trillion yen in size, with fiscal spending of ¥15 trillion .

“We decided to carry out an unprecedentedly massive scale of economic package worth ¥108 trillion, or 20 per cent of GDP, following the immense damage to the economy from the novel coronavirus,” Abe told reporters after a meeting with senior ruling party lawmakers.

Abe stopped short of providing further details, but the amount may include earlier economic measures valued at ¥26 trillion, which were adopted at the end of last year to cope with risks from the Sino-US trade war.

Even if we declare a state of emergency, we will not close cities... experts have told us that there is no need for such a step

Shinzo Abe,

Prime Minister of Japan

There may be a limited impact... given many people are refraining from going shopping... but it could prevent a second-round effect on aggravating the economy Masaki Kuwahara,

Senior economist at Nomura Securities