Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga wants to enact the fiscal year 2021 budget, the largest ever, by the end of March in the hopes it will help to revive a sluggish economy pulled down by the novel coronavirus pandemic.
"We'd like to achieve domestic demand-led economic growth by steadily implementing the budget," Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said about the government's aim.
This government, however, grossly miscalculated how much infections would surge this winter. The Go To Travel campaign, which Suga is spearheading, had to be temporarily suspended for the year-end and New Year holidays.
The government's plan to support local economies through a series of Go To campaigns and to achieve a V-shaped economic recovery at the same time through a large budget is now completely ruined.
The government's handling of COVID-19 is like chasing two rabbits at once, trying to prevent infections from spreading while trying to revitalize the economy. Criticism of the government shows no signs of abating.
LDP member Takeshi Noda, a former home affairs minister, visited Suga on Monday to encourage him. Noda said the prime minister told him, "When you're in a position with power, it's natural to be criticized."
Government officials are hoping that vaccinations against COVID-19 will be in full swing next spring or after to ease the public's anxiety.
The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry has compiled a timetable that says 30 million to 40 million elderly people will start receiving vaccinations as early as late March, giving them priority.
"When the vaccinations start, there will be a prospect [of hope for the people]," Suga said during a recording of a TBS TV program on Monday.
However, the approval rating of the Cabinet has plummeted after the latest surge of the infectious disease, according to media polls.
"We should not do so [dissolve the House of Representatives to hold a general election] unless we have completely prevented the spread of the infection," Suga said on the same TV show.
If the government fails to contain the pandemic, economic recovery will of course become difficult, and it will be hard to decide when to dissolve the House of Representatives to hold a general election.
The prime minister has reportedly told those around him, "For now, we have to grit our teeth and do our best."
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