TOKYO ? Key Japanese cabinet ministers Tuesday agreed on a spending boost of 7.2 trillion yen ($80.8 billion) as part of a wider stimulus package expected to total $274 billion, reports said.
The package is meant to boost a fragile recovery from Japan's worst post-war recession, which is now threatened by deflation and the strong yen's impact on exporting companies in Asia's biggest economy.
Top ministers in the cabinet of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama agreed on the size of the fiscal spending in an extra budget for the financial year to March 2010, Jiji Press and Kyodo News agencies said.
The wider stimulus package, including loan guarantees and other measures that do not require actual spending, would be worth 24.4 trillion yen ($274 billion), according to the Nikkei business daily.
