Japan ruling bloc agrees on income cap for $886 handouts

Households with annual income above 9.6m yen excluded

The cash benefit was the subject of political wrangling for the past several days, with junior coalition partner Komeito pushing for its inclusion in the government's fiscal package.

November 10, 2021 14:38 JST

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japan's ruling coalition agreed Wednesday to exclude high-income households from its plan to give out 100,000 yen ($886) in cash and vouchers for every child aged 18 or younger as part of the government's COVID-19 stimulus package.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who heads the Liberal Democratic Party, and Natsuo Yamaguchi, leader of the LDP's smaller partner Komeito, agreed to cap annual income at 9.6 million yen.