Coronavirus: Japan to give each resident US$930 as pandemic batters economy

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says the stimulus payments will be made ‘quickly’, as the crisis decimates the world’s third-largest economy
Abe also backed the World Health Organisation in the coronavirus fight, in contrast with US President Donald Trump who has vowed to cut funding to the agency

Coronavirus pandemic

Agence France-PresseandReuters

Published: 8:46pm, 17 Apr 2020

Why you can trust SCMP

Japan will offer a cash payment of 100,000 yen (US$930) to every resident, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced on Friday, as the coronavirus pandemic continues to decimate the world’s third-biggest economy.

“We are moving quickly to deliver cash to all people,” Abe said in a televised news conference to explain his decision to expand a state of emergency nationwide.

An initial plan to provide three times that amount to households, which have seen incomes slashed because of the coronavirus, was ditched and Abe apologised for the confusion.

Japan has seen relatively few cases and deaths compared to hotspots in Europe and the United States but a recent spike in Tokyo – which logged a daily record 201 new cases on Friday – has sparked concern.

Abe initially declared a state of emergency in seven regions of the country but expanded this on Thursday to include the entire country.

He said this decision was taken in a bid to restrict domestic travel during the Golden Week holidays in late April and early May, when many Japanese leave cities to visit family elsewhere.

The state of emergency hands regional governors the power to demand people stay indoors but stops far short of restrictions seen elsewhere as there is no punishment for transgression.

Coronavirus: Japan warns deaths could hit 420,000 if no social distancing

Abe said authorities would reassess the situation on May 6 at the end of the public holiday, saying: “If we can all refrain from going out, we can drastically reduce the number of patients in two weeks.

“The future depends on our behaviour,” said the prime minister, saying his goal for everyone to reduce social contact by at least 70 per cent was not yet being achieved.

Abe on Friday also expressed support for the role of the World Health Organisation (WHO) in the campaign against the new coronavirus, in contrast with US President Donald Trump who has vowed to cut US funding to the agency.

Abe said he had told fellow Group of Seven leaders on Thursday that “the international community, centring on the WHO, must cooperate to fight this infectious disease, which is having a global impact” and Japan would “firmly” support it.

“There’s only the WHO that can serve as an international institution” to address the pandemic, Abe said.

Japan’s total infections on Friday stood at more than 9,000, with 190 deaths, according to a tally by national broadcaster NHK.

The Japanese economy was heading for recession even before the coronavirus crisis, contracting by 1.8 per cent in the final quarter of last year.

Japan set to pay its manufacturers to leave China

Since then, tourism has dropped by as much as 90 per cent, industry and trade have ground to a halt and the virus forced the postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics that was seen providing a boost to the economy.

Last month, Abe unveiled a package of stimulus measures worth around US$1 trillion to protect jobs, bolster the medical sector and ease the pain for working families.

A delivery of two masks to each household also began on Friday, although the move has been greeted with much derision online.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Japan moves quickly to hand cash to every citizen

Post