Reduce The Impact Of The COVID-19 Pandemic, 18-Year-Old Teenagers In Japan Will Be Given Rp12 Million BLT

Japanese illustration. (Unsplash/Jezael Melgoza)

JAKARTA - The Japanese government and the ruling parties are considering providing benefits, such as direct cash assistance (BLT) to reduce the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, of 100,000 yen each or around Rp. 12,453,035 for those aged 18 years or older. younger.

If all goes well, the cash grant program will be included in the new 'tens of trillions' worth of economic stimulus planned by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in mid-November. However, some people are wary of giving any amount of cash regardless of income level.

Without any conditions, some 20 million children will qualify for the benefits, which will cost about 2 trillion yen by a time Japan is already saddled with the most debt of any country, more than twice the size of its economy.

In addition, the government and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party-led coalition plan to give valid 30,000 yen each to "My Number" national identity card holders in a bid to spur consumption in the pandemic-hit economy, the sources said.

The move also aims to promote the use of an unpopular identity card system. Komeito, the junior ruling coalition partner of the LDP, has asked the government to provide 100,000 yen for all children 18 years of age or younger under the economy package.

Both acts were included in Komeito's campaign promise for last Sunday's general election, in which the ruling coalition maintained a comfortable majority in the House of Representatives.

Japanese Illustration (Unsplash/Alex Knight)

As for cash grants, options such as setting income limits and providing some of the benefits in the form of coupons to cover child-rearing costs are on the table, given that most of last year's 100,000 yen government cash transfer is believed to have ended up in savings rather than spending.

Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Seiji Kihara told a news conference, "between the ruling parties there are overlapping and non-overlapping parts," citing Kyodo News Nov. 5.

During the election campaign, the LDP, led by Kishida, vowed to help "people in need" such as precarious workers and families with young children, but not many details are known.

For the My Number cardholder program, it takes about 3 trillion yen to provide shopping points worth 30,000 yen per person for about 100 million people in Japan. Currently, only about 40 percent of Japan's 126.7 million eligible residents, including foreign residents, have the card.

To note, the KTP system which was used in 2016 issues a 12-digit number to every citizen and foreign resident in the country to enter various personal data such as those related to taxes and social security.

The government says the system will make various public services more convenient to use, however, many people remain concerned about the leakage of personal information.

As part of efforts to popularize the ID system, the government is also providing spending points equivalent to 5,000 yen for each cardholder has been ongoing, but is scheduled to expire at the end of December.

Other potential measures include giving 50,000 yen in cash to underprivileged households hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as support for the agriculture and fishing industries, including small businesses suffering from rising crude prices, sources said.

To finance the economic package, the government will draw up a supplementary budget for fiscal year 2021 and seek to secure parliamentary passage by the end of the year, with new government bonds likely to be issued to cover the shortfall in tax revenues.