TOKYO: The Tokyo metropolitan government is expected to spend a total of about 800 billion yen on measures in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike on Wednesday announced the metropolitan government's fiscal 2020 supplementary budget worth 357.4 billion yen.

The budget includes 96 billion yen as resources for a program to pay up to one million yen to each small firm in the Japanese capital that temporarily halts operations in line with the metropolitan government's business suspension request made based on the central government's state of emergency declaration over the pandemic.

The metropolitan government plans to spend more on the fight against the coronavirus.

At a news conference, Koike said the amount of money to be used by the metropolitan government in dealing with the pandemic will exceed the 186.1 billion yen for measures devised to cope with the global financial crisis triggered by the September 2008 collapse of U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers. "We'll use every possible means," Koike said.

The payment of up to one million yen will be made to companies that suspend operations from Thursday through May 6, the final day of the period covered by the state of emergency declaration.

The metropolitan government expects to receive a total of 130,000 applications will be made for the program.

The draft supplementary budget includes 400 million yen to support restaurants that will newly start food delivery and take-out services and 196.4 billion yen to cover costs related to a plan to set up a 1.5-trillion-yen credit line for small companies.

The metropolitan government also plans to spend 1.4 billion yen to help medial institutions introduce more equipment to treat patients of the coronavirus and take measures to prevent infection at their facilities, 10.8 billion yen to rent facilities for accepting patients with mild or no symptoms, 3.4 billion yen to provide face masks to medical institutions and 600 million yen to secure accommodations for medical workers.

Koike stressed the need "to protect people on the front line to save lives."

The metropolitan government will use its fiscal adjustment fund for the supplementary budget. The Tokyo metropolitan assembly is expected to approve the extra budget at its extraordinary session opening on Friday.

JIJI Press