Japan Cabinet Approves $19 Bn Extra Budget in Response to Iran War

Japan's cabinet approved Wednesday a $19 billion supplementary budget to support households struggling with soaring everyday costs driven by the Iran war. 

The extra budget was "decided" at a cabinet meeting, the prime minister's office said on its website. Top government spokesman Minoru Kihara told reporters at a news conference the cabinet had allocated 3.1135 trillion yen ($19 billion).

"Amid ongoing uncertainty in the situation



in the Middle East, we have formulated this budget from the standpoint of minimising risk," Kihara said. He added that the budget would allow for a "robust financial readiness" and that the government would closely monitor future price trends "so that the daily lives of the public and economic activity are not disrupted". 

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said last month that the extra budget would be used to ease the rising cost of petrol, electricity and gas.