Former Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shot Dead During Campaign Speech

The politician was the country's longest-serving prime minister.

By Shaurya Malwa

Jul 8, 2022 at 10:27 a.m. UTC

Updated Jul 8, 2022 at 2:59 p.m. UTC

CDCROP: Japanese P.M. Shinzo Abe (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images) — Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was pronounced dead on Friday. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)

Shaurya Malwa

Shaurya is an analyst/editor for CoinDesk's markets team in Asia.

Follow @shauryamalwa on Twitter

Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated earlier Friday during a campaign speech in Nara, a city in the western part of Japan.

Local broadcaster NHK reported Abe was shot in the chest and a male suspect was detained at the scene.
Abe served as prime minister of Japan and president of the Liberal Democratic Party from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2012 to 2020.
He was known for his aggressive financial and economic policies, dubbed “Abenomics,” which relied on monetary easing and strong fiscal policies to aid growth and development among the country's aging population.
U.S. premarket equity index futures dropped following the reports. S&P 500 futures fell 0.36% and Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 0.50%. In Europe, the Stoxx Europe 600 pared gains.

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