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Japan PM in bid for record $320b outlay

By WANG XU in Tokyo | China Daily | Updated: 2021-12-07 09:39

Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, with fellow ministers, attends an extraordinary session of the lower house of parliament in Tokyo on Tuesday. ISSEI KATO/REUTERS

Lawmakers pressed to approve funds to ease pandemic impact on economy

Japan's government on Monday presented lawmakers with a proposal for a record 36 trillion yen ($320 billion) in funding to ease the economic impact of the pandemic.

The supplementary budget for fiscal 2021 is scheduled to be debated in an extraordinary session of the legislature, known as the Diet, until Dec 21.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has pledged that his government will "prepare for the worst" to counter the dangers posed by the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, which is spreading fast in much of the world.

The extraordinary session of the Diet will discuss a range of issues, including the nation's recovery from the pandemic and responses to COVID-19.

In his first policy speech since taking office in September, Kishida told the parliament that his government will protect businesses and workers hit hard by the pandemic through an enormous stimulus package funded by the budget and that Japan "must be prepared for the worst-case scenario".

"Infections have eased in Japan," Kishida said. "But some countries where people have been fully vaccinated are still seeing record numbers of cases. We must maintain our stance of being cautious and prudent.

"The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining," said Kishida, quoting United States president John F. Kennedy. He added that Japan had secured 10,000 hospital beds for COVID-19 patients since the summer and expected to approve the use of an oral drug to treat the disease later this month.

The layout of the supplementary budget includes key measures like cash handouts of 100,000 yen and vouchers for children, assistance for medical institutions and vaccine rollouts as well as subsidies for promoting domestic tourism.

Although Japan now has some of the lowest daily infection numbers among developed economies and the country had joined Israel and Morocco in barring foreign travelers since last week, it reported a third case of the Omicron variant on Monday.

According to the country's health ministry, a man with a history of travel to Italy was found to be infected with the heavily mutated variant after he entered Japan through Tokyo's Haneda airport on Wednesday.

Tough stance

Kishida, initially criticized for the border closure, now seems to be gaining public support for the tough stance. A poll conducted by Yomiuri Shimbun at the weekend showed that almost 90 percent of respondents approved of the government's decision.

The survey also showed that support for Kishida had risen 6 percentage points to 62 percent.

On the diplomatic and security front, Kishida reiterated the need to enhance Japan's alliance with the United States and the once-dovish leader is now considering "every option to boost defense, including acquiring the capability to strike enemy bases" because of "quick, severe changes of security environment around Japan".

In order to deal with these changes, the prime minister said, his government will spend a year to draw up new versions of the country's three documents that guide military development: the National Security Strategy, the National Defense Program Guidelines and the Medium-Term Defense Program.

From Wednesday, lawmakers from the lower and upper houses of the parliament will spend three days questioning Kishida on his policy speech. Those sessions will see him hold, for the first time as prime minister, one-on-one debates with opposition lawmakers.

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