Photo/Illutration Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba meets with reporters on April 17. (Takeshi Iwashita)

Lacking support from voters and the opposition bloc, the government and ruling coalition parties have abandoned plans to offer cash handouts to ease the effects of rising prices and steep U.S. tariffs.

A supplementary budget to finance proposed benefits and other emergency economic measures will not be submitted to the current Diet session, senior government officials said April 17.

Government and coalition officials were considering offering 50,000 yen ($350) per person, but the plan came under fire from opposition parties.

“If the government doles out taxpayers’ money in the form of benefits, there is no point in collecting it from the public in the first place,” Kazuya Shinba, secretary-general of the Democratic Party for the People, said.

The ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito, which lost its majority in the Lower House election in October, needs support from an opposition party to pass a draft budget or other legislation.

Coalition officials were hoping that the cash handouts would win over voters in the Upper House election in summer, but opinion polls by media outlets showed strong public opposition to the plan.

At a news conference on April 17, Komeito Secretary-General Makoto Nishida said an extra budget for this fiscal year will not be compiled during the current Diet session.

Masaji Matsuyama, secretary-general for the LDP in the Upper House, expressed a similar view.

The government and coalition parties plan to expand gasoline subsidies and resume assistance for electricity and gas charges, which will be financed with reserve funds and other allocations in the budget for fiscal 2025.

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