Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said she will widen a planned cash benefit for lower- and middle-income earners to more than half of working people, up from a target of more than 30%, but left the roughly ¥10 trillion to pay for it unsettled.
The payout, called the employment burden reduction support benefit, is to be introduced alongside a consumption tax cut. Takaichi announced the broader income ceiling on Friday, saying she would look at a level that covers more than 50% of working earners.
For the first two years from next April, the basic amount would be up to about ¥25,000 a year. Households would get an extra ¥5,000 or so for each child.
“In the pilot period, a household such as a couple with two children receiving the full benefit would get ¥60,000 in total.”Sanae Takaichi, prime minister
A ¥10 Trillion Bill
The roughly ¥10 trillion needed over the two years is the open question. In the lower house, four senior Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers left their seats, and the opposition pressed Takaichi on where the money would come from.
“The prime minister says there is no need to worry. But in the lower house, four LDP heavyweights walked out because they are worried about the funding. It is the 'no need to worry' that worries me, so please tell us what is in it.”Kiyoshi Ueda, Democratic Party for the People lawmaker
Takaichi listed several sources. Recent final tax revenues have run an average of ¥4.4 trillion a year above forecasts, she said. She also pointed to ¥6 trillion of this year's ¥9 trillion in non-tax revenue that has no set use.
She said her government would strengthen a Japanese version of DOGE, the US cost-cutting drive, and return ¥7 trillion in idle long-term funds from a fund to the national treasury.
'DOGE, Not Doji'? No, Doji
The Japanese DOGE is meant to cut spending by reviewing tax breaks and subsidies. Critics have called the American original a failure.
“In short, you are using a signboard that does not live up to its name. It is doji — a blunder — not DOGE.”Kiyoshi Ueda, Democratic Party for the People lawmaker
“We are piling up work on the ground so the name does not become an empty signboard. We are already in a considerable battle with the ministries, and I am confident the results will surprise even my senior, Ueda.”Katsunobu Kato, finance minister
Takaichi said Kato is much feared, and that ministries have voiced sorrow and anger at his push. She said he is not a minister to mind such things and that she expects results.