Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Wednesday he will instruct his ministers to compile an economic stimulus package in a bid to address the impact on consumers from higher oil and other commodity prices as well as the coronavirus pandemic.

"To revitalize the Japanese economy, we must deal with high crude oil, raw material and other prices. I will give instructions next week and proceed with examinations," Kishida told reporters.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during a meeting of the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy on March 23, 2022, at the premier's office in Tokyo. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

The emergency package will come amid higher inflation affected by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It will likely include expanding the subsidy program for domestic oil distributors who put in measures to keep gasoline and other fuel prices from rising sharply, government sources said.

To mitigate the economic fallout on households in need from the pandemic, Kishida may extend support to pensioners, among other steps.

To finance the package, the government is considering initially using funds reserved under the state budgets for fiscal 2021, which will end this month, and fiscal 2022, the sources said. It is also planning to draw a supplementary budget for the next fiscal year to that end.


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