Japan PM unveils $277 bn economic stimulus package

TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso on Thursday unveiled a 26.9 trillion yen ($277 billion) package to stimulate Asia's largest economy, including fresh spending of five trillion yen.

The package includes tax cuts, benefits sent directly to households and loans for small businesses, Aso told a news conference, describing the global financial crisis as a "once-in-a-century event."

"In this kind of situation, we need to relieve people's insecurities. We should not be fearful of the violent storm, nor should we just stand and let the typhoon blow us away," he said.

It is the second emergency package after one announced in late August by Aso's predecessor Yasuo Fukuda that was aimed mainly at easing the impact of soaring commodity prices.

Aso, who took office last month, has put a priority on stimulating growth rather than taming the ballooning public debt, a key priority for his predecessors in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. But Aso said he would not worsen the debt by issuing new bonds to pay for the new package.

Japan's economy suffered its worst contraction in seven years in the second quarter of this year and many analysts believe it is already in recession, which is usually defined as two straight quarters of negative growth. Aso said he would push for global economic reforms when he takes part in next month's emergency financial summit in Washington.

"I want to talk at the financial summit in Washington about international cooperation for the surveillance of financial institutions," Aso said.