Japan Eyeing Economic Package Topping 20 T. Yen

Tokyo, Nov. 19 (Jiji Press)–The Japanese government’s planned comprehensive economic package will likely be worth over 20 trillion yen, it was learned Wednesday. The package, including the abolition of the provisional gasoline and gas oil tax surcharges and other large-scale tax reductions, is expected to be adopted at a cabinet meeting as early as Friday. The package was earlier planned to total around 17 trillion yen, but is now seen expanding as massive anti-inflation measures, such as additional child allowances, are also set to be included. General-account expenditures under the government’s planned fiscal 2025 supplementary budget, which finances measures in the package, is expected to total around 17 trillion yen, up from about 13.9 trillion yen under the fiscal 2024 extra budget and hitting the highest level since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. The child allowances will be increased by 20,000 yen per child aged zero to 18 as a one-time measure, with necessary costs seen totaling about 400 billion yen. Also among the package will be aid to lower household electricity and gas bills for January-March next year and increases in local grants that can be used for, among other things, distributing rice and shopping vouchers to help households alleviate the impact of inflation. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]