TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Tuesday unveiled a plan for targeted government spending, steering a careful course between the twin aims of reviving economic growth after a coronavirus-induced slump and balancing the budget.

Suga identified four areas - digital transformation, a greener society, regional revival and childcare - as engines of new growth that the heavily indebted state would allocate funds to.

“While putting our utmost priority on the coronavirus response, we are keeping an eye out for a post-coronavirus era where we will lead the world with strong economic growth,” Suga said.

“We won’t abandon the flag of achieving a primary budget surplus,” he also told his top economic advisory panel, while setting out mid-year policy objectives that also included doubling foreign direct investment to 80 trillion yen ($735 billion) by 2030.

The panel, the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy (CEFP), will address the draft policy roadmap in more detail at a meeting in June.