Japan to give 100,000 yen to all citizens for virus relief

Japan plans to provide a one-off cash handout of 100,000 yen ($930) to all citizens regardless of income level as part of measures to help cushion the fallout from the spread of the new coronavirus, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Thursday.

The plan, estimated to cost over 12 trillion yen, comes as a turnabout from the government's earlier plan to provide 300,000 yen to households whose income is deemed to have fallen sharply due to the pandemic.

The new measure coincides with Abe's decision the same day to expand the state of emergency to all 47 prefectures from Tokyo and six others in his latest effort to contain the steadily increasing infection cases.

"I will ask the ruling parties to consider giving 100,000 yen each to all people affected by the emergency declaration as they will be asked to refrain from outings and other activities will be restricted" following the expansion of the state of emergency, Abe told a government panel tasked with coronavirus responses.

In phone talks earlier in the day, Abe told Natsuo Yamaguchi, the chief of Komeito, the coalition partner of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, that instead of the 300,000 yen handout, he plans to include the blanket cash distribution plan in a supplementary budget, sources close to the matter said.

The 100,000 yen cash handout plan is expected to be financed by further issuance of deficit-covering bonds, raising concerns about a further deterioration of Japan's fiscal health which is the worst among advanced economies.

Abe has instructed officials to secure funding for the new scheme, although he earlier sounded negative about such a blanket plan.

Ref: mainichi