Aso, whose approval rating has plunged ahead of elections that must be called by September, has announced ¥10 trillion (US$102 billion) in spending since becoming prime minister six months ago.

Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano said the government would also inject ¥121 billion ($1,2 billion) into three regional banks and discuss ways to support the stock market after the Nikkei 225 Stock Average tumbled to a 26-year low this week.

“It is all positioning for the elections,” said Takahira Ogawa, director of sovereign ratings at Standard & Poor’s in Singapore. “There is not that much thought about the people or companies who really need the money.”

Yosano said he supports US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s call on the Group of 20 nations to spend more to end the global financial crisis. Aso may be ready to announce a package at the summit of G-20 leaders in the UK in April, said Yosano, who will attend a meeting of his counterparts from the group in London today.

Source: Bloomberg