Accelerating concrete measures based on a supplementary budget

To speed up the implementation of these measures in a concrete way, we have submitted a supplementary budget proposal totaling 313.2 billion yen to this extraordinary session of the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly. This budget will be mainly financed from national government funds. The supplementary budget is based on four points, namely, measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the strengthening and improvement of safety nets to support the residents’ livelihoods and Tokyo’s economic activities, measures to balance infection prevention measures and socioeconomic activities, and measures to promote transformation of social structures to overcome the crisis facing Tokyo.

First, for measures to prevent the spread of infection, nothing is more important than further enhancing support for those fighting daily on the frontlines against COVID-19, including healthcare workers and medical institutions. We will provide strong support for those working on the ground through the provision of allowances to those working in the fields of health care, nursing care, and welfare, and through payments to support the business foundation of medical institutions that accepted coronavirus patients. Additionally, we will support measures that will enable organizations, such as medical institutions, pharmacies, and welfare facilities, to continue providing health care and other services while taking preventative measures against the virus. We will also expand subsidies for medical institutions and other facilities that keep empty beds for COVID-19 patients for when they are needed. Moreover, we will launch a new novel coronavirus response council so that we can promote effective measures in partnership with the municipalities. We will thus firmly support measures taken by each of the municipal governments.

Next, toward the strengthening and improvement of safety nets, we will support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and other business operators that experienced a drop in sales by subsidizing their rent, which is an urgent problem. The TMG will provide its own rental assistance grant that will supplement that offered by the central government, and this will be funded by the recently expanded grants we received from the central government. In addition, we will offer special grants to low-income single-parent households, and strengthen counseling services to help prevent child abuse and domestic violence resulting from such factors as staying at home for an extended period, and suicides caused by job loss and other reasons. Thus, we will support the livelihoods of residents by accommodating their diverse needs.

Regarding balancing infection prevention measures and socioeconomic activities, along with supporting SMEs in their creation of innovation that can meet new demands such as technologies to avoid contact and congestion, we will back their development of new markets through the internet and organization of web-based sightseeing tours in Tokyo. In addition, for the transformation of social structures to overcome the COVID-19 crisis and build a bright future, we will put emphasis on measures that lead Tokyo to “new growth,” including implementation of new employment measures to effectively develop IT personnel who support Tokyo’s growth.