Japan PM Abe outlines reform strategy for economy

TOKYO (AP) -- Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has outlined a blueprint for rejuvenating Japan's ailing economy with regulatory reforms meant to bring more women into the work force, coax cash-hoarding corporations into investing more and promote industrial innovation.

The strategies Abe sketched out in a speech Wednesday form the third and most important plank in his "Abenomics" platform, which so far has focused on what he calls the first "two arrows" in his arsenal: loosening monetary policy and boosting public spending.

Abe pledged Wednesday to raise Japanese incomes by 3 percent a year, to protect consumers' purchasing power if the government meets its target of boosting inflation to 2 percent within two years. However, his speech was short on details of how to achieve that aim after more than two decades of stagnation.