Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi (C) answers a question during a session of the House of Councillors Budget Committee at the National Diet in Tokyo on November 12, 2025. (Photo by Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP) (Photo by KAZUHIRO NOGI/AFP via Getty Images)
Kazuhiro Nogi | Afp | Getty Images
Japan’s cabinet approved a stimulus package totaling 21.3 trillion yen ($135.5 billion) on Friday, as Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi seeks to boost the country’s slowing economy and offer support to inflation-hit consumers.
Public broadcaster NHK reported that the package was based on three pillars: addressing rising prices, achieving a strong economy, and strengthening defense and diplomatic capabilities, according to a Google translation. This stimulus package is the largest since the Covid-19 pandemic, according to local media.
The cabinet also said it would expand local government grants, as well as provide subsidies for electricity and gas bills. The subsidies will start next January, amounting to about 7,000 yen for a standard household over a three-month period starting next January.
Taxes on gasoline will also be eliminated, according to the NHK report.
Japan also plans to establish a 10-year fund to enhance shipbuilding capabilities, and enact measures to raise defense spending to 2% of its gross domestic product by fiscal year 2027.
The government said it will “swiftly compile” a supplementary budget bill to fund these measures, and plans to pass it by year-end with help from opposition parties.
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party currently is a minority government, but is now allied with the Japan Innovation Party. Together they hold 231 seats, two short of a majority in Japan’s 465-seat Lower House.
Economic worries
The stimulus package from Takaichi’s government comes as Japan has seen inflation consistently run above the central bank’s target, with statements from senior officials on yen weakness further impacting prices stoking fresh concerns.
The headline inflation figure for October rose to 3% from 2.9%, staying above the Bank of Japan’s 2% target for 43 straight months, while core inflation, which strips out prices of fresh food, came in at 3%.
BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda told the country’s parliament on Friday that the central bank should be mindful that a weak yen could affect underlying inflation by pushing up import costs and broader prices.
Japan’s Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama also warned of yen volatility and reportedly hinted at a possible intervention in the market, saying that she was “alarmed by recent one-sided, sharp moves in the currency market,” Reuters reported.
Japan’s economic growth has also been weakening with GDP in the three months to September contracting for the first time in six quarters, down 0.4% compared with the prior quarter, government data released Monday showed.
October trade data, released Friday, offered some welcome relief to the country, with exports rising 3.6% year on year and beating expectations as shipments to Asia and Europe offset declines in exports to the U.S.