Japan gov't to spend record $488 bil. on economic stimulus

TOKYO, Nov. 18 Kyodo - Japan will spend a record 55.7 trillion yen ($488 billion) on an economic stimulus package aimed at easing the impact from the coronavirus pandemic, government sources said Thursday. The package, including policy measures funded by the private sector such as emergency bank lending to struggling businesses, will be worth 78.9 trillion yen, the sources said. The Cabinet of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will approve the package on Friday. The government spending, expanded from an earlier plan of around 30 trillion yen, will be larger than the 48.4 trillion yen outlay for a similar package compiled in April last year by the administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Kishida is set to increase support for households and companies in an attempt to meet his goal of redistributing wealth. The key measures in the package include handouts of 100,000 yen in cash and vouchers for children aged 18 or younger, wage hikes for nurses and care workers, and financial aid of up to 2.5 million yen each for smaller companies reeling from the pandemic. The government will also restart the "Go To Travel" subsidy program in an effort to prop up the pandemic-hit tourism sector. The program has been suspended nationwide since December amid the spread of the virus. To fund the package, the government aims to pass a supplementary budget in an extraordinary parliamentary session to be convened by year-end. The size of the extra budget for the fiscal year through March is expected to be 31.9 trillion yen, according to the sources. The government will issue new bonds to partly finance the budget, a move that would worsen Japan's fiscal health, already the worst among major developed countries. Some policy measures under the package will be covered by the initial budget for fiscal 2022, to be drafted next month. ==Kyodo