The Japanese government plans to spend more than 30 trillion yen ($ 265 billion) in another effort to mitigate the impact of Japan’s economic downturn from the coronavirus pandemic.
According to a report quoted from Kyodo News, the stimulus package includes providing 100,000 yen in cash to all citizens aged 18 and under and restarting the ‘Go To Travel’ subsidy program to promote domestic tourism.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida had previously said that the size of his stimulus package would involve several tens of trillion yen.
The government will fund the move with the remaining funds from the fiscal 2020 budget. However, it will also require the government to issue new bonds to cover any shortfalls.
In the meantime, the government will compile a supplementary budget for the current fiscal year until next March, with a target of it being approved by parliament by the end of December.
Part of the package will also be covered by the preliminary budget for fiscal 2022 that will be compiled at the same time.
Meanwhile in a separate report, the Central Bank of Japan (BOJ) published a ‘Summary of Opinion’ from its policy meeting in October which said the yen’s recent weakness reflected differences in inflation, the stance of monetary policy between Japan and other countries.
Following that, the BOJ has no reason to change its loose monetary policy as inflation is still far from its target.
