Prime Minister Fumio Kishida pledged Wednesday to begin outlining early next week the pillars of a new economic stimulus package that he described as "drastic," as Japan's economy has shown few signs of achieving a sustainable growth path.
At a press conference during the U.N. General Assembly in New York, Kishida said fresh economic measures would include steps to respond to sharp price hikes, promote wage and investment growth, and mitigate the adverse effects of a declining population.
Kishida added his government is aiming to finalize the package by the end of October and submit a draft supplementary budget to fund it to parliament "in a timely manner" under the new Cabinet.
"Under the new administration, we will address issues that cannot be postponed," Kishida said.
The government said earlier this month that Japan's economy grew an annualized real 4.8 percent in April to June, revised down from 6.0 percent reported earlier, hurt by sluggish capital spending and private consumption.
The world's third-biggest economy expanded for the third straight quarter. Analysts, however, have warned that the state of the economy is not as good as the headline figure indicated, amid the relative weakness of domestic demand.
Consumer sentiment has been worsening due largely to an upturn in global energy and food prices, triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which was launched in February 2022.
As for Japan's release of treated radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant, crippled by a massive earthquake and tsunami in March 2011, Kishida said he will continue explaining the safety of the discharge to the international community.
Beijing has criticized Tokyo for disposing of "nuclear-contaminated water" in the Pacific Ocean, imposing a blanket ban on Japanese seafood imports immediately after the release began on Aug. 24.
Kishida said his government has been eager to "maintain close communication at all levels" with China to jointly tackle common challenges, urging Beijing to take "responsible" actions.
But he added that nothing had been decided regarding whether he will hold a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping by the end of the year.
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