Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has announced at a press conference that he will further delay a planned tax hike from April 2017 to October 2019.

He added that his government will also compile extra stimulus measures this autumn that could total as much as 54 billion US dollars.

The Japanese leader told the media that the delay was essential to support not just Japanese growth, but global growth. He added that his decision was finalized following the outcome of the G7 leaders' summit he hosted In Japan last week.