Kishida Eyes 30,000-Yen Benefits to Low-Income Households

Jiji Press

14:06 JST, March 16, 2023

TOKYO (Jiji Press) — Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is considering a plan to provide ¥30,000 in fresh inflation relief to each low-income household, it was learned Wednesday.

Kishida also showed willingness to provide child-rearing households with an additional ¥50,000 per child, Keiichi Ishii, secretary-general of Komeito, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s coalition partner, told reporters after meeting with the prime minister at his official office.

Those amounts of cash handout for low-income families were initially shown to Kishida, also LDP head, by LDP policy chief Koichi Hagiuda at an earlier meeting the same day. Kishida told Hagiuda that he wants to support low-income earners, who are hit harder by price hikes, especially with a view to providing aid based on the number of children they are rearing.

At their respective meetings with the prime minister, Hagiuda and Ishii submitted their parties’ own proposals on further measures to cushion the impact of price increases, including assistance to liquefied propane gas users and companies that use large amounts of electricity.

The ruling coalition parties also call for strict screenings of applications submitted by major power suppliers to raise regulated electricity rates for households and tackling soaring feed prices to curb food price increases.