- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe approved a set of measures on Friday to stimulate economic growth in the world's third largest economy that so far have failed to impress markets and added more pressure on policy makers to introduce more steps after July's upper house elections. One of key parts of Abe's economic revival plan is the growth strategy that includes ultra-loose monetary policy and big government spending. These measures also include creation of special economic zones in order to boost private investment and participation of women in the labour market. However, such actions as corporate tax cuts, liberalization of labour and farming sector led to a significant fall in Japanese stocks. Japanese economy is picking pace already, as the economic output expanded 4.1% in the first quarter, due to the stronger global demand, benefits from weaker Yen and improvement in business and consumer mood.
In the meantime, one of the BoJ policy board members' suggested limiting quantitative easing to two years can stabilize the struggling bond market. Takahide Kuichi previously expressed his concerns overs reaching 2% inflation within two years, and now said Japanese central bank should limit its money injections to avoid financial imbalances.
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