Residents move along the sidewalk as the sun sets in the Aoyama area of Tokyo, on Nov. 10, 2021. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato)

       TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japan will spend a record 55.7 trillion yen ($488 billion) on an economic stimulus package aimed at easing the impact from the coronavirus pandemic, government sources said Thursday.

       Including private sector funds, the package, to be approved by the Cabinet on Friday, will be worth 78.9 trillion yen, the sources said.

       The package has turned out to be larger than expected as the government of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will increase support for households and companies in an attempt to meet his goal of redistributing wealth.

       The key measures in the package include handouts of 100,000 yen in cash and vouchers for children aged 18 or younger, wage hikes for nurses and care workers, and financial aid of up to 2.5 million yen each for smaller companies reeling from the pandemic.

       To fund the package, the government aims to pass a supplementary budget in an extraordinary parliamentary session to be convened by the year-end.

       The size of the budget is expected to be 31.9 trillion yen, according to the sources.

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