TOKYO: Japan’s cabinet yesterday rubber-stamped a package of government reforms aimed at rebooting the economy, as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe readied to explain the measures to fellow G8 leaders.
In a video message posted on his official website, the premier repeated pledges that he would make a tangible difference to Japan’s prospects after years of disappointing growth and debilitating deflation.
“I will restore a strong economy. I pledge to increase the per-capita gross national income by no less than 1.5 million yen ($15,000) over the next ten years,” he said.
The drive to jump-start the world’s third largest economy has been the dominant theme of the administration, in a programme of measures dubbed “Abenomics”.
The first two strands — or “arrows” — came in the form of massive public spending and a torrent of easy money from the central bank.
That drove the yen down and boosted the stock market, which climbed around 80 percent, until the last few perilous weeks that have been marked by wild swings, including a 6.35 percent drop on Thursday.
The architecture of the third “arrow” was unveiled last week, a laundry list of aims including 2 percent GDP growth a year, boosting female participation in the workforce and an expansion of infrastructure exports.
“I would like women to be more active in society,” Abe said in the video posted last morning after his cabinet endorsed the programme.
AFP
