The government and the ruling parties said Wednesday measures will be taken to help local governments suffering from heavy snowfalls, including providing financial support, participants said.

Major measures include providing subsidies to local governments to remove snow, financial assistance to people who engage in forestry, fishing and agriculture as well as small and midsize companies. Another would be supplying fresh vegetables and keeping their prices reasonable.

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said ministries should "jointly deal with" problems arising from snow and cold weather even during the New Year's holiday period, according to participants of a meeting on the topic.

Land, Infrastructure and Transport Minister Kazuo Kitagawa was quoted as saying the amount of snowfall is "nearly four times" the average and many municipalities may not have enough money to remove so much snow.

Kitagawa said his ministry will consider concrete steps to help these municipalities.

Senior government officials decided at a separate meeting to disburse 20 billion yen earmarked for disasters in the current budget to help prefectural and municipal governments with snow removal.

As of Tuesday, 26 people had been killed in nine prefectures and 280 injured in 16 prefectures in accidents related to heavy snow and cold. Fifty-four houses were damaged and 1.38 million households suffered power outages.