What Japan Is Doing to Prod ETFs and Economy

April 03, 2009 at 11:00 am by Tom Lydon      Bookmark and Share

ETF JapanAs global demand for goods continues to stagnate, Japan’s economy and related exchange traded fund (ETF) may be quickly deteriorating, but the government won’t just sit back and do nothing.

Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso has announced another stimulus package, worth an expected $101 billion in spending and tax cuts, to prod the economy onward, reports Takashi Nakamichi for The Wall Street Journal. The ruling bloc of lawmakers are calling for $405 billion in spending and tax breaks in light of a new election season.

Three previous packages have already been introduced since August, which are valued around $760 billion and includes $122 billion in actual spending and tax cuts.

After evaluating the poor conditions in their financial markets, the Japanese government drafted a potential plan to buy up exchange traded funds.

The Finance Minister proposed a strategy that will utilize the new spending to create two million jobs over the next three years. It is expected that Japan will experience a double-digit contraction this quarter, their economy diminished 12.1% in the previous quarter.

  • iShares MSCI Japan Index (EWJ): down 12.1% year-to-date

ETF EWJ performance

Max Chen contributed to this article.

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