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.
"We would need to support people suffering from rising costs right now until a positive growth cycle with wage increases outpacing inflation and driving capital expenditures is established," Ishiba said Friday in his first policy speech to parliament as the country's prime minister, according to a translation by Reuters.
Local media reported earlier that Ishiba also plans to compile a supplementary budget, which will fund the relief package after the lower house elections set for Oct. 27.
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. The election for the lower house of parliament is now set to take place a year before it's due.
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