The government's economic relief package to be compiled on Tuesday in response to the spread of the new coronavirus will be worth about 108 trillion yen, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Monday.
This is equivalent to about 20% of Japan's gross domestic product and is the largest-ever economic relief package.
The government intends that the fiscal 2020 supplementary budget, including the package, will be approved by the Cabinet on Tuesday.
"In light of the enormous impact of the new coronavirus infection on the economy, the government will implement economic measures on an unprecedented scale," the prime minister told reporters at his official residence on Monday.
The scale of the economic relief operation this time is about twice the size of the economic stimulus package compiled in April 2009 following the 2008 collapse of U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers. That package was about 56.8 trillion yen and included 15.4 trillion yen of actual fiscal spending.
Included in the economic package this time are cash benefits of more than 6 trillion yen to low-income households and small and medium-sized businesses whose sales have fallen sharply; a moratorium on about 26 trillion yen in taxes and social insurance premiums; and financial assistance of more than 40 trillion yen to companies.
Regarding cash benefits, the government will provide 300,000 yen per household to individuals whose incomes have fallen sharply, and up to 2 million yen per case to small and midsize companies as well as individual business owners. To help such companies and business owners, private financial institutions will also extend them loans that are effectively interest-free and unsecured.
Another pillar of the government's economic package is measures to deal with the spread of the virus infection itself. The government plans to secure the new flu drug Avigan for 2 million people because it is expected to be effective in treating COVID-19. As the number of seriously ill patients is feared to increase, the government plans to expand the use of ventilators and artificial lungs, and to secure more vacant beds, medical supplies and human resources.
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