Japan unveils $81b stimulus package

TOKYO: The Japanese government unveiled a 7.2 trillion yen ($81 billion) economic stimulus package amid signs the recovery and Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's popularity are waning.

Hatoyama's first stimulus plan includes 3.5 trillion yen to help regions, 600 billion yen for employment and 800 billion yen on environmental initiatives, the Cabinet said yesterday in a statement in Tokyo. The measures had been delayed because of haggling within the coalition government.

The package came a week after the Bank of Japan released a 10-trillion-yen credit program in response to government calls for it to counter deflation and a surging yen. Analysts said yesterday's measures may provide at least a temporary boost for the world's second-largest economy, which emerged from its worst postwar recession in the second quarter.