Japan Ruling Coalition Eyes Cash Handout Plan amid U.S. Tariffs, Rising Prices; No Income Limit Likely to be Set

The Yomiuri Shimbun

6:00 JST, April 11, 2025

The Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner Komeito began discussions Wednesday to call for the government to distribute cash to mitigate effects of U.S. tariff policy and rising prices, several officials from the government and ruling parties said.

The government will carefully make a decision. If the handout plan is implemented, the ruling camp wants to draft a fiscal 2025 supplementary budget and pass it in the current Diet session before the House of Councillors election to be held in the summer.

LDP Secretary General Hiroshi Moriyama visited the prime minister’s official residence Tuesday night to ask Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba to consider cash distribution. LDP Policy Research Council Chairman Itsunori Onodera and his Komeito counterpart Mitsunari Okamoto also discussed the matter in the Diet on Wednesday.

In consideration of the impacts of the U.S. tariff policy and rising prices on household finances, some LDP members have suggested the handout amount to be around ¥30,000 to ¥50,000 per person, while some in Komeito call for ¥100,000. No income limit will likely be set, and more than several trillion yen in financial resources is expected be necessary to implement the distribution.

Many government officials are wary of a cash handout policy as it requires a large amount of funding, and deliberations on the supplementary budget would make the Diet schedule tight. It is also unclear whether the measure will be supported by the opposition parties under the current minority government. Even so, a high-ranking official said, “We can’t do nothing” before the upper house election. The government will assess the effects of the benefits and public opinion trends before making a final decision.