Japan Cabinet OKs $200B spending plan to counter inflation

By MARI YAMAGUCHI
Associated Press

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s Cabinet has approved a hefty economic package including 29 trillion yen ($200 billion) in government spending to counter the blow from inflation, signaling that the greater concern of its policymakers is that the economy will stall, not overheat. While central banks around the world are raising interest rates aggressively to try to tame decades-high inflation, with its own inflation rate near 3%, Japan has stuck mainly to using fiscal measures, or government spending, to counter that challenge. The Bank of Japan underscored Friday by sticking to its longstanding policy of keeping its benchmark interest rate at minus 0.1%.