Japan's ruling party approves $154b stimulus spending

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TOKYO, April 9 (AFP): Japan's ruling party said today that it had approved record stimulus spending of about 154 billion dollars to resuscitate the recession-hit economy.
Spending on the emergency economic measures should total some 15.4 trillion yen, the party's policy board announced.
In total the stimulus package will be worth more than 56.8 trillion yen (570 billion dollars) when non-spending steps such as loan guarantees for firms are included, the board said.
It also includes more than two trillion yen of spending for a "low-carbon revolution" including the promotion of solar power technology and energy- saving vehicles and consumer electronics, it said.
Under the plan, the government would give consumers who buy environmentally friendly air conditioners, refrigerators and other electronics so-called "eco points" which they could use for future purchases.
The measure is aimed at an "explosive spread of green household electronics," the party report said.
Prime Minister Taro Aso was expected to soon unveil the package in greater detail before submitting a supplementary budget to parliament for approval.
The injection is the latest in a series of stimulus packages aimed at pulling the Japanese economy out of its worst slump since World War II.
The report said that after Japan's economic bubble burst in the early 1990s, "the Japanese economy staged an export-led 'single-engine' recovery that assumed the world economy would continue high growth."