Japan’s government on Tuesday unveiled a new stimulus package worth nearly $81 billion to keep the fragile recovery in the world’s second-biggest economy from veering off track.

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and his Cabinet agreed to 7.2 billion yen ($80.6 billion) in new spending after days of negotiations with coalition partners. The announcement had been expected on Friday but was delayed by disagreements.

The package is Hatoyama’s first major policy deal since his Democratic Party swept into power this summer promising help for workers and families. Since then, the country’s economic turnaround has been under threat from intensifying deflation and a strong yen.

After enduring its worst recession since World War II, Japan’s economy grew for the second straight quarter in the July-September period, expanding at an annualized pace of 4.8 percent. It was the strongest growth in more than two years thanks to previous stimulus measures and improvement in global demand.

But with consumer prices falling for the eighth month in October, the government has grown increasingly concerned about prolonged deflation.

Declining prices, which plagued Japan during its “Lost Decade” in the 1990s, can hamper economic growth by depressing company profits, sparking wage cuts and causing consumers to postpone purchases. It also can increase debt burdens.

Compounding worries is the yen, which surged to a fresh 14-year high against the dollar recently.

The package includes measures to bolster employment, extend consumer incentives to buy eco-friendly products and provide support for small and medium-size firms hurt by the strong yen.

The measures will be financed by the second extra budget for this fiscal year through March 31. Finance Minister Hirohisa Fujii said he expects the Cabinet to approve the supplementary budget next week.

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Twenty academics from Indonesia and Australia will intensify cooperation on priority governance issues in an Australian-funded research program, the Australian Embassy said Tuesday. “By working in partnership, leading minds from Australia and Indonesia can support policy development in Indonesia and work towards addressing governance concerns, ” Australian Ambassador to Indonesia Bill Farmer said in a statement. The priority issues are climate change and food security, public financial reporting, local political parties in Aceh, insurance and social security, forest management and district-level lawmaking, according to the statement. Those who will be involved in the joint-research program include senior government officials, heads of international…

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Several gas stations located in Jakarta green areas have been closed for a week. Kompas.com reported one gas station on Jl. Sumenep, two on Jl. Kwitang, and one in front of Ciptomangunkusumo Hospital were among those no longer serving customers. “We have not received any fuel supplies since Oct. 20, ” Kantiman, a gas station employee on Jl. Sumenep, said. A buyer had bought the gas station assets and the money from the sale would be used to pay the 12 gas station employees, he added. Earlier on Monday, the head of the Jakarta park and cemetery agency, Ery Baskoro, said he had sent a letter to state-owned oil and gas firm Pertamina to stop supplying fuel to 27 gas stations in green areas and Pertamina had agreed to do so. The measure is part…

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