Japan's 204 Trillion Yen 3rd COVID-19 Supplementary Budget Bill Passes House of Representatives

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Chae-eun] The third supplementary budget bill containing measures against the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) has passed the Japanese House of Representatives.

According to reports from Kyodo News and NHK on the 26th, the scale of the Japanese government's third supplementary budget bill amounts to 19.17 trillion yen (approximately 204 trillion won). Specifically, 1.3 trillion yen has been allocated to increase the "Emergency Comprehensive Support Grant" for strengthening the medical provision system, such as securing hospital beds for COVID-19 patients, and 1.03 trillion yen (about 11 trillion won) has been allocated for the extension of the tourism promotion project "Go to Travel."

The opposition parties, including the Constitutional Democratic Party, opposed allocating a budget in the 1 trillion yen range to extend the Go to Travel project, which some experts have pointed out as a cause of COVID-19 spread, but the bill passed as originally proposed by the government. The Go to Travel project, which supports domestic travel through the budget, has been temporarily suspended since the end of last year due to the spread of COVID-19.

The Japanese government intends to resume Go to Travel to support the tourism industry and regional economy once the spread of COVID-19 subsides. The third supplementary budget bill is expected to pass the House of Councillors on the 28th after inquiries by the House of Councillors Budget Committee on the 27th and 28th.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.