Japan's successful bid for 2020 Olympics will act as a trigger and bring economic benefits to the world's third largest economy, affected by deflation for the past 15 years, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said.
"I'm hoping that the hosting of the Olympics will act as a trigger for breaking with a shrinking economy that has been hit by deflation for the past 15 years," a beaming Abe told a press conference here in the Argentine capital after the International Olympic Committee picked Tokyo as the host city.
Japan will become the first Asian country to stage the Games for a second time. Tokyo had staged the Olympics in 1964.
Members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) meeting here chose the Japanese capital over Istanbul, after Madrid was dramatically eliminated following a first-round tie with the Turkish city yesterday.
Officials hope that the sports extravaganza will become an opportunity to showcase the country's recovery from the 2011 massive earthquake and tsunami that sparked a nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, Kyodo news agency reported.
The government led by Prime Minister Abe has employed a set of policies dubbed "Abenomics" to restore economic growth.
The Olympics "will definitely be a plus for growth. It will work as 'the fourth arrow' and bring benefits," Abe told a Japanese TV programme.
As Tokyo prepares for the Olympics, demand for construction projects is expected to increase, with a private research institute projecting a 0.5 per cent rise in Japan's gross domestic product in 2020.
That will give an additional boost to the economy on the cusp of recovery as the government implements the "three arrows" of Abenomics -- bold monetary easing by the Bank of Japan, massive fiscal stimulus and a growth strategy aimed at encouraging private investment.
Abe has said the next extraordinary parliament session from October will be devoted to discussing his economic growth strategy, at a time when he needs to decide whether to raise the sales tax next April as planned.
Meanwhile, hosting the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo is likely push up Japan's gross domestic product by 0.5 per cent in that year with positive economic effects worth 4.2 trillion yen, due partly to expected growing demand for new construction and a boost to tourism, according to a research institute's projection.
