Japan to roll out huge stimulus plan as pandemic pain deepens

Japan to roll out huge stimulus plan as pandemic pain deepens

Japanese leader Shinzo Abe says the stimulus plan to counter coronavirus will exceed the $525 billion package compiled after the 2008 global financial crisis.. The government is set to approve a supplementary budget on Tuesday to fund the package. Supply chain disruptions, travel bans and social distancing policies triggered by the pandemic have hit Japan's economy, which was already on the brink of recession.. Abe has pledged to lay out a huge stimulus plan to combat the virus that will exceed the 57-trillion-yen ($525 billion) package compiled after the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008.. Sources said Japan will fund the package by boosting government bond issuance by $149 billion, adding to what is already the industrial world's heaviest debt burden at more than twice the size of Japan's $5 trillion economy.. French and Dutch governments said to be in talks over multi-billion euro deal. PARIS: Air France-KLM is in talks with banks to receive billions of euros in loans guaranteed by the French and Dutch governments, as the airline group braces for a sustained coronavirus shutdown, sources told Reuters.. The French and Dutch governments also declined to comment in detail on the Air France-KLM talks..