TOKYO , Japan ( CNN ) -- Japan 's Prime Minister Taro Aso announced a historic ¥15 trillion ( $ 150 billion ) stimulus package Friday aimed to turn around the recession in the world 's second largest economy . Japan 's Prime Minister Taro Aso has announced a $ 150 billion stimulus package . Steeped in a recession , with a surge in bankruptcies and sentiment among its largest manufacturers at a record low , Japan has seen unemployment reach a three-year high . The stimulus plan is meant to keep Japan 's economy from cracking open , coalition party officials told CNN . It is the biggest-ever supplemental budget to boost the ailing economy . Japan has been hit hard by the global financial slump . Although Japanese banks were spared the brunt of the credit crisis , the drop in exports to the United States has sent the country into its worst recession since World War II . Aso needs the package to boost Japan 's economy and his government 's popularity . `` This could help save his life as prime minister , '' said Satoru Ogasawara , a Tokyo-based economist for Credit Suisse . The Aso administration 's approval rating fell below 10 percent two months ago , but has been buoyed by the stimulus package and the recent North Korea rocket launch , Ogasawara said . If approved , the package could add two points to the country 's gross domestic product , Ogasawara said . But its long-term impact remains an open question . `` It will help the economy from collapsing from this point ... [ but ] unless the package improves productivity or increases demand , it will be a short-term fix , '' Ogasawara said . Jesper Koll , president and chief executive of TRJ Tantallon Research Japan , said the stimulus package was unlike the ¥12 trillion injections into the economy in the past eight months . `` This is the first designed with real business input , and that 's reflected in the package , '' he said , referring to a series of meetings Aso held with business leaders last month . `` That 's outside the normal technocratic , bureaucratic fix . ... It is n't just pork-barrel money for the boys . '' Koll cites details of the plan -- such as tax breaks for gift-giving , environmentally friendly cars , or measures to increase employment in health care -- as a step forward . `` This goes way beyond grand-standing fiscal policy . It 's very specific . For Japan , that 's something , '' he said . Still , Japan now has one of the highest amounts of public debt in the world - a rate which could approach 200 percent of GDP next year , according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development . `` The government has since spent billions and billions of dollars to support the economy , '' Kirby Daley , a strategist for brokerage Newedge , said . `` Japan has been trying this and has now gone into almost two lost decades and will likely enter a third lost decade if they continue down this policy path . It has not worked in Japan . It will not work again . '' Among the package 's highlights : . -- ¥1.9 trillion for unemployment benefits and the promotion of job sharing . -- ¥3 trillion to boost struggling companies . -- ¥1.6 trillion to promote green initiatives , such as the purchase of environmentally friendly cars and energy-efficient electronics . -- ¥2.6 trillion for infrastructure , such as airport runways , train networks and road extensions . -- ¥1.7 trillion for health and welfare . The proposed stimulus package helped a rally in Japanese stocks this week , with the Nikkei 225 Average briefly breaking the 9000-point level for the first time in three months on Friday morning trading . The Nikkei hit a 26-year record low last month .
Japan announces ¥15 trillion ( $ 150 billion ) in extra spending Friday . The stimulus plan is meant to keep Japan 's economy from cracking open . Score: 7