Amid growing concern that inflation will drag down Japan¡¯s economic recovery, parliament on Tuesday approved an extra budget designed to assuage the impact of soaring prices for oil and other commodities.
The entire ?2.7 trillion ($21.13 billion) budget, which will be financed by government bonds, is being directed toward a ?6.2 trillion emergency relief package put together by the administration of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to fend off rising prices. The Russia-Ukraine war has intensified global inflation, while the yen¡¯s value has nosedived in the past few months, inflicting the additional burden of higher import costs.
About ?1.17 trillion of the supplementary budget, for example, will continue to fund a subsidy program for oil wholesalers to curb gasoline, light oil, heavy oil and kerosene prices.
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