{"id":425012,"date":"2024-11-30T03:56:43","date_gmt":"2024-11-30T03:56:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=425012"},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-29T14:00:00","slug":"Japan-government-approves-92-bn-extra-budget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/Japan-government-approves-92-bn-extra-budget\/","title":{"rendered":"Japan government approves $92 bn extra budget"},"content":{"rendered":"

Japan’s unpopular minority government approved on Friday an extra budget to help pay for a massive stimulus package after the ruling coalition’s worst election result in 15 years.<\/p>\n

The hoped-for lift to the economy is also aimed at boosting Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s popularity after a gaffe-riddled start including an embarrassing video of him eating.<\/p>\n

The extra budget approved by the cabinet is worth 13.9 trillion yen ($92 billion) and is expected to be approved in parliament by the end of the year.<\/p>\n

It will be partly funded by issuing bonds worth over 6.6 trillion yen.<\/p>\n

It includes 1.5 trillion yen to boost Japan’s chip and AI sectors, part of a 10-trillion-yen push over the coming years previously announced.<\/p>\n

Last week Ishiba’s cabinet approved a 21.9-trillion-yen stimulus drive, with the overall impact expected to be worth 39 trillion yen.<\/p>\n

It includes handouts of around 30,000 yen for low-income households, fuel and energy subsidies, and assistance to small businesses.<\/p>\n

Ishiba, 67, took office on October 1 following the resignation of unpopular predecessor Fumio Kishida, and called snap elections soon afterwards.<\/p>\n

But the move backfired, with voters angry over corruption within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) — which has governed almost non-stop for decades — and price rises.<\/p>\n

The ruling coalition of the LDP and the smaller Komeito party were deprived of a majority in the lower house of parliament for the first time since 2009.<\/p>\n

Ishiba has promised to revitalise depressed rural regions and to address the “quiet emergency” of Japan’s shrinking population, the world’s second-oldest.<\/p>\n

A poll in the Mainichi Shimbun daily on Sunday put the cabinet’s approval rating at 31 percent, down 15 points from early October. The disapproval score was 50 percent.<\/p>\n

Ishiba drew ridicule after being snapped apparently napping in parliament this month, and for failing to stand up to greet other world leaders at a gathering in South America.<\/p>\n

Worse was a video that emerged of Ishiba eating an onigiri rice ball — a popular snack — whole and munching on it without closing his mouth.<\/p>\n

“He eats like a three-year-old,” one user said on X. “How could he have risen to the top with these manners?” asked another.<\/p>\n

kh-tmo-stu\/nf\/sn\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Japan’s extra budget is also aimed at boosting Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s popularity after a gaffe-riddled start including an embarrassing video of him eating<\/p>\n

-Yuichi YAMAZAKI
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