Japan PM Shigeru Ishiba asks ministers to craft economic relief package to cushion inflation impact

Oct. 5, 2024 - CNBC

TOKYO, JAPAN - OCTOBER 1: Japan's new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba attends a press conference at the prime minister's office on October 1, 2024 in Tokyo, Japan. Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said he has asked ministers to formulate an economic relief package to ease the bite of inflation.

The support measures would include subsidies to low-income households and significantly larger grants to local governments, Ishiba said in the speech. On Monday, just three days after being elected as head of Japan's ruling party, the new prime minister set the date for the snap election.

During his speech, gains in Japan's Nikkei 225 narrowed to 0.09% while the broad-based Topix was up 0.

36%...