Japan’s Cabinet approves $200 billion economic stimulus plan to lighten household burdens from inflation and weaker yen 

Japan's Cabinet has approved a hefty economic package including about 29 trillion yen ($200 billion) in government spending to alleviate the burden of costs from rising utility rates and food prices

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s government approved Friday a hefty economic package that will include government funding of about 29 trillion yen ($200 billion) to soften the burden of costs from rising utility rates and food prices.

Mr. Kishida was set to give a news conference in the evening.

Inflation has been rising in Japan along with globally surging prices. A weakening of the yen against the dollar has amplified costs for imports.

The stimulus package includes subsidies for households that are largely seen as an attempt by Kishida to lift his plunging popularity. His government has been rocked by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s close ties to the South Korean-based Unification church, which surfaced after the assassination of former leader Shinzo Abe in July.

“We will make sure to deliver the measures to everyone and do our utmost so that people can feel supported in their daily lives," Kishida said after preliminary approval of the package earlier in the day.

Japan has stuck to using fiscal measures, or government spending, to counter current economic challenges. While central banks around the world are raising interest rates aggressively to try to tame decades-high inflation, Japan's inflation rate is a relatively moderate 3% and the greater fear is that the economy will stall, not overheat.

The Bank of Japan, which has kept its benchmark rate at minus 0.1% since 2016, kept its longstanding lax monetary policy at a policy making meeting that wrapped up on Friday.