Japan to allocate $16B to support population in pandemic

The Japanese government has decided to include spending of more than 1.8 trillion yen (almost $15.8 billion) in additional financial assistance to the population amid the pandemic in the draft state budget for fiscal 2021 (starting April 1, 2021), Report informs referring to TASS.

These funds will be used to accrue special points that can be exchanged for goods and services.

In addition to helping the population, such a measure is designed to promote more active implementation of unified identity registration cards, which in the future should become a universal tool for all payments and transactions in Japan. Currently, only a little more than 39% of the population has them in the country.

On November 19, the Japanese government approved a new package of measures to support the country’s economy and population during the pandemic in the amount of about 78.9 trillion yen ($691.5 billion). The authorities will allocate 55.7 trillion yen ($488.2 billion) from the budget for these purposes. The rest of the funds in the amount of about 23.2 trillion yens ($203.3 billion) will be provided by private companies in the form of investments.

The funds will be used to prevent the spread of coronavirus, resume social and economic activity, stimulate demand and support the population and business. In particular, families with children under the age of 18 will receive benefits of 100,000 yen (about $880) for each child. Last year, all residents of Japan, including permanently resident foreigners, received a one-time payment of 100,000 yen as part of support for the population amid the pandemic.