Japan passes biggest-ever extra budget to resurrect COVID-hit economy
As a precautionary measure for another possible wave of the pandemic this winter, Kishida's policy package largely leaned towards curbing Covid-19 amid fears over the spread of the Omicron variant.
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FollowJapan's Parliament passed the government's biggest-ever extra budget worth $316 billion as it looks to spur a recovery from Covid-19 pandemic. The first extra budget under new Prime Minister Fumio Kishida underscored the challenge of juggling hefty spending to protect the crisis-hit economy while managing the industrial world's heaviest debt burden.
The Japanese government will be forced to issue new bonds worth 22.1 trillion yen to finance the majority of the supplementary budget, reported Xinhua news agency. As a result, the outstanding balance of government bonds, which need to be cleared by tax revenue, is expected to surpass 1,000 trillion yen by March.
The draft of the extra budget was approved by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's Cabinet late last month and passed the House of Representatives on Wednesday.
The supplementary budget will be followed by the compilation of an annual state budget for fiscal 2022/23 later this month. Kishida has vowed to implement seamless spending over a 16-month period to keep the world's third-largest economy afloat.
Also read: Unvaccinated Texas man becomes first to succumb to Omicron in US: Report
The extra budget featured controversial payouts of 100,000 yen per child to families with children, but central and local governments have wrangled over payments - lump-sum cash payments, divided payments, or half cash/half shopping vouchers.
As a precautionary measure for another possible wave of the pandemic this winter, Kishida's policy package largely leaned towards curbing Covid-19 amid fears over the spread of the Omicron variant.
Of the total extra budget, 18.6 trillion yen was earmarked for measures to curb the spread of Covid-19 and support medical institutions.
In particular, 2.0 trillion yen was set aside as subsidies to help medical institutions secure more beds for Covid-19 patients.
Also read: Amid Omicron scare, WHO says new variant causing infections in vaccinated people
To support promotion of the government's COVID-19 vaccination program and procurement of treatment drugs, 1.3 trillion yen (11.6 billion dollars) and 601.9 billion yen (5.3 billion dollars) were allocated, respectively.
As a key policy measure in the stimulus package, 1.2 trillion yen (10.7 billion dollars) will be used for the government's handout program of cash and vouchers for children aged 18 or younger in households where the primary earner's annual income is below 9.6 million yen (84,608 dollars). Enditem.
The extra budget bill is expected to sail through the upper house of parliament later this month given Kishida's ruling bloc holds a solid majority in both chambers.
(With inputs from agencies)
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