By Leika Kihara and Yoshifumi Takemoto

TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan must compile a stimulus package of around $149 billion to support an economy hobbled by U.S. tariffs and weak consumption, Goushi Kataoka, a private-sector member of a key government panel, told Reuters on Monday.

The proposed 23 trillion yen ($148.65 billion) in spending and tax cuts would far exceed the 17 trillion yen that was reported by the Nikkei newspaper as the likely size of new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s first stimulus package.

Japan’s economy may not rebound much after contracting in the third quarter, Kataoka said in an interview, with the outlook for exports clouded by weak consumption and capital expenditure, automakers hit by Washington’s tariffs and U.S. economic uncertainty.

“Given uncertainty surroundi

See Full Page