Japan confident over 'third arrow' growth package

The Japanese government shrugged off stock market gyrations today, saying a raft of reforms including tax breaks for firms wanting to invest would boost the economy.
As the Nikkei 225 began another precipitous drop that saw it close the day 6.35 per cent lower than it started, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said the world's third largest economy remained on a path to recovery.
"Our nation's economy is steadily picking up," he told a briefing in the morning.
"The real economy and leading indicators are improving. We want to continue to manage the economy with confidence," he said.
The government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will tomorrow vote on the so-called "third-arrow" of his programme of growth and reforms, in a scheme dubbed "Abenomics".

The two earlier "arrows" came in forms of aggressive monetary easing and massive public spending aimed at ending years of vigour-sapping deflation.

The draft proposals place emphasis on medium to long-term goals that Abe hopes will generate two-percent real GDP growth annually over the next decade, far outstripping the rate in the last ten years.
It promises major investment tax breaks, the creation of special economic zones and boosting the employment of women and the elderly, among a wide-range of other initiatives.
It also aims to shift labour to growth sectors, increase exports of infrastructure, and to enhance medical services.

The cabinet will officially approve the measures tomorrow , as the government prepares for an important upper house election in mid July.