The Liberal Democratic Party on Monday proposed extending the Go To Travel tourism promotion campaign through the end of the Golden Week holidays in early May.
This and other proposals were presented to Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga by LDP Policy Research Council Chairman Hakubun Shimomura at the prime minister's office. They were submitted in relation to the third supplementary budget for the current fiscal year, which will include additional economic stimulus measures.
Suga told an executive meeting of the LDP later in the day that he wants to decide on the stimulus measures as soon as early next week.
At their meeting, Shimomura asked Suga to compile a supplementary budget that would be large enough to close the supply-demand gap, also known as the GDP gap, of 34 trillion yen in the July-September period.
When demand exceeds supply, the situation is positive and prices are likely to rise.
"It's necessary to compile a large-scale supplementary budget to ensure the public is reassured," Suga was quoted as saying.
As the three areas of highest priority, the proposals cited measures to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, economic structural changes aimed at the post-coronavirus era, and the promotion of disaster prevention and disaster reduction as well as measures related to national resilience.
Specifically, the proposals call for extending the period of the Go To Travel campaign and the Go To Eat program, which is aimed at shoring up demand for dining out. They also seek increased funding to help secure beds for infected patients.
To achieve the government's goal of reaching net-zero greenhouse emissions by 2050, a proposal was also made for the establishment of a fund to support private companies engaged in high-risk research and development.
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