The government submitted to parliament on Monday a draft second extra budget for fiscal 2020, totaling a record ¥31.91 trillion ($291 billion), to implement additional measures to strengthen the medical system and help people hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic.
With the supplementary budget, which was approved by the Cabinet on May 27, the government plans to roll out a new package of programs worth about ¥117 trillion. Programs will focus on support for small firms, struggling since stay-at-home requests were imposed in April, as well as medical staff at the forefront of the battle against the virus.
The government said the size of the package, including loans and investments in addition to actual fiscal spending, is worth about ¥117 trillion, nearly the same size as the first extra budget enacted on April 30.