Tokyo, Sept 07: Japan will spend three trillion yen ($25 billion) in public funds in a bid to boost the depressed stockmarket as the key Nikkei-225 index plunged to 19-year lows, reports said on Saturday. The government will use the money to buy exchange-traded funds (ETFs) this month, hoping that a rise in fund purchases would help lift the sagging stockmarket, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun and Yomiuri Shimbun said.

ETFs are investment trusts that incorporate all issues in the Nikkei 225 index and the broader Tokyo Stock Price Index and are designed to reflect the movements of these stock indexes.

The public money comprises pension funds, postal savings and postal insurance funds, the Yomiuri daily said. Bureau Report