More stimulus for ailing economy

Japan's central bank has pumped an extra ¥10 trillion (£73bn) into its spluttering economy as policymakers pledged to review the nation's inflation target in the wake of Shinzo Abe's landslide election victory.

The Bank of Japan loosened policy for the third time in four months after official figures showed the world's third-biggest economy slipping back into recession.

Masaaki Shirakawa, the governor of the Bank of Japan (left), said yesterday that it would debate next month whether to adopt a new 2 per cent inflation target, double the current 1 per cent benchmark.

Efforts to stimulate the economy have sent the yen sliding against the dollar in recent weeks, pushing the Nikkei stock average past the 10,000 mark.