Japan PM vows to end Covid-19 crisis

Japan Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Friday he would do his utmost to lead Japan out of the Covid-19 crisis while protecting its territory and people in an increasingly tough security environment.

Kishida took the top job in the world’s third-largest economy on Monday, replacing Yoshihide Suga, who had seen his support undermined by surging Covid-19 infections.

Daily cases have recently fallen and a long state of emergency was lifted this month.

“I’m determined to devote body-and-soul to overcome this national crisis with the people, carve out a new era and pass on to the next generation a country whose citizens are rich at heart,” Kishida said in his first policy speech to parliament.

A big early test for him will be leading his ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) into a general election on October 31.

The 64-year-old former foreign minister, who has a reputation as a low-key consensus builder, said the government would quickly put together a stimulus package to support those hit hard by the pandemic and take legislative steps to secure medical resources.

He did not specify the size of the stimulus package in his speech but last month he suggested a sum of 30 trillion yen ($268 billion).

Earlier, Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said he hoped to compile an extra budget to fund the stimulus immediately after the elections and have it approved by parliament by the end of the year.

Kishida underscored the need to support those in need to win public cooperation and he called for cash payouts to companies hit hard by the pandemic.

He also pledged to give cash payouts to so-called non-regular workers, families with children, and those struggling to make ends meet because of the pandemic.