Wajima: Japanese Prime Minister KISHIDA Fumio on Saturday unveiled a plan to expand the scope of a new subsidy program to help rebuild homes damaged by the Jan. 1 Noto Peninsula earthquake in central Japan.

The new program, designed to provide up to 3 million yen, will cover young people and child-rearing households with borrowing difficulties, in addition to elderly and disabled people, Kishida told reporters in the city of Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture.

The prime minister suggested that the government will decide as early as next week on additional spending of 100 billion yen from fiscal 2023 budget reserves to finance the expansion of the subsidy program.

“I will take the lead in rebuilding the daily lives and livelihoods of affected people and revitalizing local communities until the day that they can smile again,” Kishida said.

Eligible for the new subsidy program will be households in six municipalities in the Noto area, including the cities of Suzu and Wajima, whose homes collapsed in the 7.6-magnitude earthquake. Under the program, 2 million yen will be provided for housing reconstruction, and 1 million yen will be offered to purchase automobiles and household goods.

Kishida also said that the government will consider generous fiscal support for the Ishikawa prefectural government’s measure to subsidize interest rates on housing loans.

JIJI Press