Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will likely instruct cabinet to make changes to a draft supplementary budget to offer blanket cash payouts of 100,000 yen ($926) each to all citizens, Kyodo news agency reported on Thursday, as the coronavirus pandemic inflicts deeper pain on the world's third-largest economy.
FILE PHOTO: Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe adjusts his face mask as he arrives to speak to the media on Japan's response to the coronavirus disease outbreak, at his official residence in Tokyo, Japan, April 6, 2020. REUTERS/Issei Kato/File Photo
Under the current supplementary budget plan, the government sets aside money to fund cash payouts of 300,000 yen but only for households whose income is judged to have been hit by the coronavirus. Rising coronavirus cases and business closures are piling pressure Japan’s economy which is on the cusp of recession.
The draft supplementary budget, compiled to fund a near $1 trillion stimulus package Abe’s administration unveiled last week, needs parliament approval to take effect.
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