September 7, 2018 – The government is set to compile a supplementary budget worth around ¥1 trillion yen ($9 billion) for the current fiscal year to fund recovery efforts from the recent natural disasters in Japan, sources with knowledge of the plans said today.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is aiming to submit a draft budget to an extraordinary Diet session in the fall after discussion with the ruling coalition, the sources said.
The extra budget will finance repairing levees damaged by floods following torrential rain in western Japan in July as well as reconstruction from the magnitude-6.7 quake that rocked the northernmost main island of Hokkaido yesterday.
It will also be used to install air conditioners in elementary and middle schools across the country, which suffered record temperatures during a heat wave that killed more than a hundred people this summer.
The emergency spending will come in addition to nearly ¥170 billion in reserve funds for the year through next March, already earmarked for relief measures after the rain disaster in western Japan.