Prime Minister Taro Aso unveiled a fresh stimulus package Thursday that includes about ¥2 trillion in benefits payments to households, expressway toll cuts and record tax breaks on home loans.
The first such package under Aso is an effort to cope with the ongoing economic turmoil, to revitalize regional economies and to protect citizens from the full effects of the financial crisis. The overall size of the package is expected to be worth ¥26.9 trillion. It entails about ¥5 trillion in fresh government spending, and calls for directing ¥1 trillion in road-related tax revenues to municipal governments.
In an unusual move, Aso also set out a timeline for hiking the consumption tax, saying he wants it raised "in three years' time."