EU, Japan Each Provide Stimulus Packages of $250 Billion Plus

The European Union today approved a 200-billion euro economic stimulus package worth about 1.5 per cent of the EU's gross domestic product ($264 billion).

Several EU member countries have officially gone into recession—experiencing two straight quarters of economic decline—ahead of the U.S. Among there are Germany and Ireland.

Japan announced a stimulus package similar to the EU's of approximately $255 billion, to help it out of the current financial crisis.