Japanese Industry Minister Ken Saito said on Friday the government planned to extend its fuel subsidies "for a certain period".

The government began subsidising energy wholesalers to curb domestic prices of gasoline, kerosene and other fuels in January 2022 and has extended them multiple times as part of its fiscal packages to address rising living costs.

In October, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced the extension of the programme to the end of April. (Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Himani Sarkar)