Japan PM Shigeru Ishiba asks ministers to craft economic relief package to cushion inflation impact

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said he has asked ministers to formulate an economic relief package to ease the bite of inflation.

"We would need to support people suffering from rising costs right now until a positive growth cycle with wage increases outpacing inflation and driving capital expenditures is established," Ishiba said Friday in his first policy speech to parliament as the country's prime minister, according to a translation by Reuters.

Local media reported earlier that Ishiba also plans to compile a supplementary budget, which will fund the relief package after the lower house elections set for Oct. 27.

The support measures would include subsidies to low-income households and significantly larger grants to local governments, Ishiba said in the speech.

On Monday, just three days after being elected as head of Japan's ruling party, the new prime minister set the date for the snap election. The election for the lower house of parliament is now set to take place a year before it's due.

Ishiba was heckled throughout his speech on Friday.

During his speech, gains in Japan's Nikkei 225 narrowed to 0.09% while the broad-based Topix was up 0.36%. Benchmark 10-year Japanese government bond yields rose by 0.013 ticks. Yields rise when bond prices fall. 

The Japanese yen strengthened further trading around 146.01 against the U.S. dollar.

The former defense minister, who won a closely fought leadership race last week, was confirmed as prime minister by parliament on Tuesday. He now faces the challenging task of leading an economy in precarious transition from years of stagnation.

The Bank of Japan has embarked on a campaign to normalize monetary policy as inflation reaches its 2% target. But policymakers contend with a