TOKYO - The Japanese government said on Wednesday that it would extend a programme offering subsidies to ease the burden of higher gasoline and other fuels beyond this year, while reducing the cap on gasoline subsidies gradually.

The cap on subsidies for gasoline will be reduced by 2 yen ($0.0152) per litre every month from January to May, it said, falling to 25 yen in May.

($1 = 131.7700 yen)

(Reporting by Yuka Obayashi Editing by Chang-Ran Kim)