May 28, 2020 (NHK) - The Japanese government has compiled a second supplementary budget for the current fiscal year in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The planned spending of 31.9 trillion yen, or more than 296 billion dollars, is a record for a supplementary budget.
The draft budget endorsed by the Cabinet on Wednesday includes about 27.8 billion dollars to develop treatment drugs and pay bonuses to medical personnel to support the medical care system.
It also allots 18.8 billion dollars to a program to finance two-thirds of the rent of shops over a period of six months.
Another 4.2 billion dollars will include subsidies to help businesses pay part of layoff benefits to employees. The daily cap of subsidies will be raised to about 140 dollars per employee. Workers who are not eligible for layoff benefits will receive up to 3,000 dollars a month.
The draft budget includes 108 billion dollars to strengthen companies' financial bases and to support programs for unsecured, interest-free loans.
Temporary grants for regional revitalization will be increased by 18.5 billion dollars, and reserve funds for infection prevention measures will be increased by 92.9 billion dollars.
The government will issue 210 billion dollars' worth of deficit-covering bonds and 86.4 billion dollars' worth of construction bonds to finance the second supplementary budget.
Including the initial budget and the first supplementary budget for the current fiscal year, the issuance of new government bonds totals a record 838.7 billion dollars. The figure accounts for 56.3 percent of the revenue.
