Japan emergency relief package to include cash for low-income households

The Japanese government has decided to provide handouts of 100,000 yen ($774) to newly cash-strapped households as part of an emergency relief package expected to be announced next week, the Yomiuri daily reported on Wednesday.

The cash handouts will be offered by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's government to households whose incomes have fallen to levels that exempt them from paying residential taxes from the new fiscal year that began this month, the paper said.

The spending would come from last fiscal year's extra budget and reserves, the Yomiuri said, without citing sources.

The Liberal Democratic Party-led (LDP) government has already announced cash handouts of the same amount for such households that qualified in fiscal 2021, with payouts beginning this spring. These households would not qualify for the new payouts, the paper said.

The government is now working to compile a series of emergency measures by the end of this month to help households and small firms cope with surging fuel and other prices, tapping budget reserves of up to 5.5 trillion yen. 

The government also plans to provide aid for low-income families, of 50,000 yen per child, the Yomiuri said.

Also under consideration is whether to raise a subsidy ceiling for fuel wholesalers from 25 yen ($0.19) per litre, the Asahi newspaper reported separately.

How to finance the relief package has been a sticking point between the LDP and its small coalition partner Komeito, whose leader, Natsuo Yamaguchi, has repeatedly called for the compilation of an extra budget before the parliament session ends in mid-June. Yamaguchi and Kishida will likely discuss the issue when they meet later on Wednesday, broadcaster NHK reported.

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The LDP has so far resisted calls for an extra budget to enable a quick rollout of aid before an upper house election this summer.

• Asia