Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga gave instructions for the compilation of a third supplementary budget for fiscal 2020 at a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
The budget will be aimed at supporting the sluggish economy amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, and push forward signature policies such as digitization and protecting the environment.
Suga called for measures in three key economic areas: 1) stemming the coronavirus pandemic; 2) transforming the structure of the economy with an eye on the post-coronavirus era and achieving a virtuous economic cycle; and 3) implementing measures for disaster preparation, damage mitigation in the case of large-scale natural disasters, and strengthening national resilience.
The proposal for the third supplementary budget will be formulated in December as a "15-month budget" to be integrated with the fiscal 2021 budget proposal.
The supplementary budget is expected to include spending to extend the government's Go To Travel tourism campaign, which is set to conclude at the end of January 2021. It is also expected to include support for the private sector, to achieve the government's goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to virtually zero by 2050.
Regarding employment adjustment subsidies, in which the government subsidizes part of the allowances that companies give employees taking time off from work, money will be included for extending special measures aimed at raising the upper amount of the subsidy and the percentage of the allowance covered.
The ruling party has been calling for a supplementary budget proposal far in excess of 10 trillion yen.
"We want to put together a bold package of economic policies," said LDP Policy Research Council Chairperson Hakubun Shimomura at a party meeting on Tuesday.
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