Tokyo, Oct. 30 (Jiji Press)–The Japanese government decided Friday to allocate an additional 1,145.9 billion yen to a fund for its gasoline subsidy program, which is part of its measures to address rising costs of living amid high fuel prices. For the additional funding, the government will tap its reserve funds set aside for measures in response to the Middle East turmoil. As of the end of September, the balance of the gasoline subsidy fund stood at about 560 billion yen, and there has been a risk of the financial resources running out around the end of November. “We’ll operate the subsidy program while paying attention to the impact (of soaring fuel prices) on people’s lives and economic activities, and closely monitoring movements of crude oil prices,” industry minister Ryosei Akazawa said at a press conference after the day’s cabinet meeting. Since March this year, the government has provided subsidies to oil wholesalers to curb the average retail price of regular gasoline across the country at around 170 yen per liter. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said Thursday that the government plans to raise the target gasoline price by 5 yen every month from December, in order to maintain the support program while easing the fiscal burden. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
