Hashimoto unveils two-trillion-yen tax cut plan

Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto on Wednesday announced tax cuts of two trillion yen in the fiscal 1997 supplementary budget to buoy up the "sagging economy", Kyodo news agency reported.

Hashimoto told an emergency press conference at his official residence that the cuts were designed to prevent the economic problem which "originated in Japan from causing global depression", the agency said.

Hashimoto said the government would issue deficit-covering bonds to finance the tax cuts, which would be in effect for one year only.

"The tax cuts will probably produce the intended effects on the economy," he said.

News of the tax cuts caused the dollar to fall to 129 yen in Tokyo, with Tokyo stocks soaring more than 750 points, to reach 16,730, the agency added.

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