Japan spends $892M in reserves on disaster relief, election

By Anjali Sharma

WASHINGTON – The Japanese government on Saturday decided to spend $892 million from reserve funds on disaster relief for the quake-hit Noto peninsula and costs for the upcoming general election.

The decision marked the first time for the administration of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who took office earlier this month, to allocate reserve funds, which the government can use at its discretion without parliamentary approval, media reported.

Over 50.9 billion yen was earmarked for reconstruction efforts such as rebuilding roads and public facilities and other projects in the Noto peninsula in Ishikawa prefecture, which was struck by a strong earthquake on New Year’s Day and heavy rains last month.

It will be the seventh allocation from the reserve funds for the central peninsula since the January disaster, when Ishiba’s predecessor, Fumio Kishida, was in office, bringing the total to about 715 billion yen.

The government said that 81.6 billion yen will be used to cover the costs for the general election for the House of Representatives and voting on whether to retain Supreme Court justices, both on October 27.