Japan's former foreign minister Fumio Kishida, who is challenging Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga as ruling party chief, said on Thursday an economic stimulus package worth "tens of trillions of yen" was needed to combat the coronavirus pandemic, Trend reports citing Reuters.
Kishida added that as party chief he would aim to bring socioeconomic activities back to near normalcy by early 2022, criticising the current handling of the pandemic as too little and too slow.
The party leader contest is slated for Sept. 29, and the government is considering a plan to hold the general election on Oct. 17.
Late on Wednesday, Japan's minister for digital transformation became the first serving cabinet member to openly back Kishida in the race for ruling party chief.