98.6 per cent of households in Japan have received the one-off 100,000 yen cash handouts

Japanese 10,000 yen banknotes. Photo: Kyodo. Sketched by the Pan Pacific Agency.

TOKYO, Aug 25, 2020, Kyodo. The government said Tuesday 98.6 percent of households in Japan have received the one-off 100,000 yen ($940) cash handouts meant to help cushion the economic fallout from the novel coronavirus pandemic, Kyodo News reported.

The government has completed handing out the money to approximately 58.26 million households, equivalent to 12.55 trillion yen, or 98.5 percent, of the budget for the project, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.

In principle, the head of a household receives the total amount of the cash handouts for family members transferred to his or her bank account.

Residents in Japan were able to apply for the handouts for three months from when the municipalities they live in began accepting applications, with many reaching their deadline by the end of August.

Originally, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party planned to deliver 300,000 yen to households whose income had fallen sharply as part of an emergency policy package approved by the Cabinet on April 7.

It was replaced with a plan to distribute 100,000 yen in cash handouts the following week amid public criticism over the initial plan’s strict eligibility requirements.

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