The folks at the Nikkei are up early today, gearing up for the election! This already from them: Nikkei – ‘Abe set to announce sales tax delay, early elections’

Now this: Japan eyes modest stimulus to lift consumption

  • Given budgetary constraints, the government is likely to keep any emergency measures small, focusing on encouraging personal consumption
  • Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is expected to tell his ministers Tuesday to assemble a stimulus package focusing on consumer spending, which just started to recover from April’s consumption tax hike
  • “The bigger the measures, the more effective they are, but that could derail our fiscal consolidation,” Akira Amari, minister for economic and fiscal policy, said at a news conference on Monday

The article goes on:

  • The spending package is expected to total 2 trillion yen to 3 trillion yen
  • Unlikely to include public works projects, except for disaster-management measures

More spending from the Japanese government. That wouldn’t be anything to do with the impending election, though. No, not at all.