The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is set to roll out an ¥800 billion relief package in response to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, a figure that far exceeds what was seen in the capital during the 2008-2009 global financial crisis or the Great East Japan Earthquake and subsequent nuclear disaster in March 2011.
Tokyo had been at odds with neighboring prefectures who said closing a large number of businesses would necessitate a massive stimulus package only the capital can afford to pay. Gov. Yuriko Koike’s latest announcement seems to have reaffirmed those concerns, as the Tokyo package offers ¥500,000 to ¥1 million in cash for small businesses that voluntarily comply with virus countermeasures and curtail or suspend their operations.
“Only Tokyo has the financial weight to put forward an emergency fund of that scale,” said Takero Doi, an economics professor at Keio University. “In cities and prefectures across the country, businesses will instead have to bear the weight.”
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.