THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
August 29, 2023 at 18:36 JST
Prices on display at a Kobe gas station (Akari Sugiyama)
Ruling coalition lawmakers are considering extending soon-to-expire subsidies to keep regular gasoline prices under 180 yen ($1.22) per liter through the end of the year.
The current gasoline subsidy program is set to end on Sept. 30.
According to several ruling coalition sources, one proposal being considered would not only extend the program until December, but also raise the government subsidy to oil wholesalers.
That subsidy is intended to persuade wholesalers to keep the price at retail gasoline stations under 180 yen per liter for regular gasoline.
The current subsidy program has two levels.
First, if regular gasoline prices should exceed the standard of 168 yen per liter, 30 percent of the amount above the standard price is subsidized. But, starting in late September, the subsidy will be reduced to 10 percent of the amount above the standard price.
The second level of the subsidy program kicks in when regular gasoline prices exceed 193 yen per liter. Eighty-five percent of the amount exceeding 193 yen is subsidized, but the ratio will increase to 95 percent in late September.
Under the new proposal, the subsidy for regular gasoline that exceeds 168 yen per liter would continue at 30 percent of the excess amount for the rest of the year.
And the second level of the subsidy would begin when regular gasoline prices exceeded 185 yen and the entire amount above 185 yen would be subsidized.
Those changes are calculated to keep the price of regular gasoline under 180 yen per liter.
However, some lawmakers are also considering a different proposal that would restrain regular gasoline prices to around 175 yen per liter.
(This article was written by Shinichi Fujiwara and Ryuhei Tsutsui.)
New subsidy program in cards to curb heating gas prices
October 15, 2022
Subsidy to lower electricity prices in households by 20% planned
October 27, 2022
Gas prices inch toward 170-yen level that would trigger subsidy
January 20, 2022
Extra measures eyed to halt a further rise in gas prices
January 30, 2022
Taxi industry accelerating shift toward fleets of electric vehicles
January 31, 2023
Government eyes subsidy program to aid families hit by rising prices
September 7, 2022
A series based on diplomatic documents declassified by Japan’s Foreign Ministry
Here is a collection of first-hand accounts by “hibakusha” atomic bomb survivors.
A peek through the music industry’s curtain at the producers who harnessed social media to help their idols go global.
Cooking experts, chefs and others involved in the field of food introduce their special recipes intertwined with their paths in life.
A series about Japanese-Americans and their memories of World War II
