Japan’s ruling coalition to pledge cash handouts
TOKYO—Japan’s ruling coalition agreed to include a plan to distribute cash handouts in its election campaign pledges to help households cope with persistent inflation, two sources familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.
The handout plan could add to concerns over the government’s already tattered finances, as lawmakers scramble to appease voters ahead of an upper house election set for July.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its junior ruling coalition partner Komeito will discuss details of the plan, including whether to have an income threshold for recipients, the sources said.
The amount hasn’t been decided, but it’s likely to be “a few tens of thousands of yen,” said the sources, who declined to be identified as the matter is private.
“If tax revenue rises (above projections), it has to be returned to all the people,” a senior LDP lawmaker told reporters on Tuesday, suggesting that the plan would not require a compilation of a supplementary budget.
Questioned
The government shelved the idea of cash handouts in April as questions arose over the effectiveness of the handouts.
But the plan has come back as the LDP resists growing calls from some opposition parties for tax cuts, which could weigh on the state finances more heavily.
The largest opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan announced an election campaign pledge on Tuesday that included a zero consumption tax rate on food for up to two years, cash handouts of 20,000 yen ($138) per person, as well as a gasoline tax cut.
