FILE - In this Friday, Jan. 11, 2013 file photo, a security man stands by a road construction site in Tokyo. Japan's Cabinet approved billions of dollars of stimulus spending in a supplementary budget meant to perk up a faltering economic recovery and cushion the impact of a sales tax hike next April. The 5.5 trillion yen ($53 billion) in fresh stimulus approved Thursday, Dec. 12, is aimed at creating at least 250,000 jobs and is heavily weighted toward construction projects. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)
December 11, 2013 - 11:46 PM
TOKYO - Japan's Cabinet approved billions of dollars of stimulus spending to perk up a faltering economic recovery and cushion the impact of a sales tax hike next April.
The 5.5 trillion yen ($53 billion) in fresh stimulus approved Thursday is aimed at creating at least 250,000 jobs and is heavily weighted toward construction projects. It also includes 600 billion yen ($5.8 billion) in payments to home buyers and one-time payments of 10,000 yen ($100) per child to low and middle-income families.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe promised the extra stimulus to counter a 3 percentage point increase in sales tax to 8 per cent in April.
Parliamentary approval of the stimulus in early 2014 is expected since Abe's Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partners hold majorities in both houses.
News from © The Associated Press, 2013