Immediate cash boost needed

JRIYADH - JAPAN'S former prime minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday urged leading nations to inject cash into their economies to stimulate the global economy and also warned against rising protectionism.

'An extraordinary economic situation requires an extraordinary response,' Mr Abe told the Global Competitiveness Forum in the Saudi capital. 'Major economies must immediately make fiscal injections to stimulate the economy.'

Mr Abe, premier from 2006 to 2007 and now a special government envoy, cited Japan's experience during a long downturn in the 1990s as evidence for the need for increased government spending to overcome the world financial crisis.

He said this was also necessary to fend off protectionist moves by countries seeking to shore up their economies.

'We should not yield to the temptation of protectionism, but take financial action to stimulate the economy,' he said.

He added that Japan needed to stimulate domestic demand to help the world recover growth.

'It is important for our country to lead the world with a will to be the first to get out of this depression by launching bold countermeasures one after another, with a sense of alacrity.' -- AFP