The government is set to decide on its second emergency support package to help businesses cope with the spread of the new coronavirus on Tuesday, according to sources.
The measures will center on creating a special loan system for small and midsize companies and other small business entities whose sales have fallen sharply in the viral outbreak, as well as support for freelancers who have been forced to take time off due to school closures, the sources said.
The government plans to launch a "special loan program related to the new coronavirus" to provide virtually interest-free and unsecured loans to small and midsize businesses, including sole proprietorships, for a total of about 500 billion yen. To prevent bankruptcies of such companies and business entities that have seen their sales plummet, loans will be extended to them without interest or collateral.
The government also plans to encourage large companies to return their production bases to Japan. Including the first emergency package of loans and guarantees worth about 500 billion yen, which was compiled in February, financing support for companies and other entities is estimated to total about 1.6 trillion yen.
Regarding freelance workers who have been forced to take time off to look after their children because of school closures, the government intends to pay 4,100 yen a day to each worker. It also plans to raise the upper limit for interest-free loans from 100,000 yen to 200,000 yen under a loan program of prefectural social welfare councils.
In addition to 20 million cloth masks to be distributed to nursing homes, the government also plans to purchase 15 million masks for medical institutions, according to the sources.
At a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, the government approved legislation to revise the special measures law to tackle the spread of the new coronavirus. The legislation is expected to be enacted as early as Friday.
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