Japan plans to roll out stimulus package to boost economy amid COVID-19 crisis

Japan is planning to offer a stimulus package that would help the government tackle the economic fallout from the coronavirus outbreak. According to reports, the Japanese government will probably hand out cash payouts to households that could be worth more than $260 billion. The efforts will be part of the government's plan to avoid a possible recession that experts are predicting across the globe. 

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Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura after a cabinet meeting on Thursday said that the stimulus package will be bold enough to repel the economic crisis that will potentially be more serious than the 2008 Lehman Brothers collapse. The stimulus package is likely to be compiled by the government in April, media reports suggested.  

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If the economic package worth $260 billion is rolled out that would be more than the 26 trillion-yen package the Japanese government compiled in December last year to avoid the financial hit from the US-China trade war on an export-reliant economy. As per reports, some lawmakers from Japan's ruling party proposed a roll-back of 10 per cent sales tax to which Finance minister Taro Aso said that it is highly unlikely because of the time it will take to notify the public and get retailers ready. 

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A similar stimulus package is being proposed around the world to handle the economic fallout of coronavirus. According to reports, the United States has proposed a $1 trillion rescue plan to boost the economy after the crisis is over. As per reports, the proposed rescue plan would see a possible $300 billion in helping small businesses avoid mass layoffs, $50 billion to help the airline industry and $150 billion to protect other sectors. The United Kingdom also unveiled a multi-billion pound rescue plan for its businesses and support people's finances in these hard times. 

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Coronavirus outbreak

The COVID-19 has claimed more than 8,900 lives across the world and has infected over 2,19,000 people globally since it first broke out in December 2019. China is the most affected country in the world as experts believe that the virus originated from a seafood market in Wuhan city, the epicentre of the disease, where animals were reportedly being traded illegally. Italy, Iran and Spain are the most affected countries outside mainland China, where, as of March 17 the combined death toll stands at 4,751.