Japan to give all citizens free money for coronavirus economic fallout - Business Insider

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Friday he intends to hand out 100,000 yen ($930) to each citizen, in place of a previous sanction meant to cover households impacted by the outbreak.Japan expanded its state of emergency on Friday beyond its main population centres, including Tokyo and Osaka, to include all 47 of its districts.Japan's finance minister Taro Aso said the cash handout will be ready by May.Japan is the latest country to experiment with giving cash straight to citizens after the US began distributing stimulus checks to people.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo said he intends to provide a blanket cash handout of 100,000 yen (about $930) to all citizens as part of the country's coronavirus relief measures and is close to securing funding for these cash handouts, according to Japan's national broadcaster NHK.Shinzo announced the plans on Friday as Japan extended its state of emergency to cover all 47 of its prefectures, or districts, in response to curbing the spread of the novel coronavirus.Japan's government had earlier announced it would sanction 300,000 yen ($2,794) to households that were impacted by the outbreak, but the prime minister has instead decided to replace this measure with the cash handout to each citizen, NHK reported.Shinzo said this decision was taken considering that everyone in the country has been asked to live under various restrictions, including avoidance of non-essential outings.Read More: If you missed out on federal loans, the IRS will allow your business to defer taxes and get tax credits. An accountant explains how to know if you're eligible.

Japan's finance minister Taro Aso said on Friday that the cash handout should be ready by May, according to news outlet Kyoto.Japan currently has 9,231 confirmed coronavirus cases and 190 fatalities.In a previous announcement, the Japan government said it would extend cash payments of 1 million ($9,316) to individual business owners and 2 million yen ($18,632) to small and medium enterprises.Earlier this month, Japan announced it will provide $1 trillion in aid relief to mitigate the economic fallout from the novel coronavirus.