Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has approved one of the country’s most expansive fiscal packages in years, with her cabinet signing off on a JPY 21.3 trillion ($135.4 billion) stimulus plan on Friday.
The program includes JPY 17.7 trillion in general account spending—well above last year’s JPY 13.9 trillion—and JPY 2.7 trillion in tax cuts, making it Japan’s largest stimulus effort since the pandemic. The measures are designed to cushion households and businesses from elevated inflation, even as some economists argue that large-scale stimulus can itself fuel price pressures.
Despite the inflation backdrop, bitcoin BTC$87,508.84 continued to weaken, slipping 0.8% to $85,480. The move extends the asset’s retreat from its Oct. 8 all-time high of $126,000, with BTC showing little of the defensive behavior typically associated with inflation-hedge narratives.
