Third rescue package this year for Japan economy

The governing Liberal Democratic Party in Japan has approved a new package of economic measures -- the third this year -- aimed at bolstering the country's financial system following a number of high-profile bankruptcies.

The centre-piece is a plan to use money raised by the sale of government shares in a big telecommunications company NTT to finance a seventy-six-billion-dollar bond issue.

This could be used to compensate depositors in financial institutions which fail, or to boost the capital of banks considered vulnerable.

Some tax cuts are also proposed.

The plan will be considered by the cabinet next week.

But the BBC Tokyo correspondent says some financial experts doubt that the measures will be enough to restore cofidence in the long-term.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service