💎 Fed’s first rate cut since 2020 set to trigger market. Find undervalued gems with Fair ValueSee Undervalued Stocks

UPDATE 1-Japan to raise support for beef, pork farmers; support child rearing -drafts

Published 24/11/2015, 11:22 pm
UPDATE 1-Japan to raise support for beef, pork farmers; support child rearing -drafts

(Adds steps on child rearing)

By Takaya Yamaguchi

TOKYO, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Japan will expand handouts to beef and pork farmers by raising the percentage of losses covered by the government to 90 percent from 80 percent now, according to a draft of the policy outline for a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal on Tuesday.

The government will also boost purchases of domestic rice for reserve stocks to prevent prices from falling due to new tariff-free import quotas from the United States and Australia under the TPP agreement, the draft seen by Reuters said.

The steps are expected to ease farmers' worries over the TPP deal and an increase in imports of cheaper foreign farm products. The TPP pact still requires ratification by member countries.

The draft also said Japan aims to raise the value of farm and fishery product exports to 1 trillion yen ($8 billion) before an initial target year of 2020, versus about 612 billion yen in 2014.

With a recent increase in the number of foreign tourists, the nation also aims to attract 20 million foreign visitors a year prior to 2020 and wants to see their annual spending hit 4 trillion yen, according to the draft.

CHILD BENEFITS

In a separate package of steps - also due out this week - aimed at tackling Japan's shrinking population, the government will provide support for single-parent households and families with more than one child, government sources told Reuters.

The government is expected to include these measures in a supplementary budget for this fiscal year and in an initial budget for the next fiscal year starting from April. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N13F20Y urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N12U3B6

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been trying to demonstrate renewed commitment to fixing the economy with three new policy "arrows" that aides say subsume an original trio of hyper-easy monetary policy, public spending and reform.

Those targets include boosting the fertility rate to 1.8 from the current 1.42 so Japan can keep its population from falling below 100 million, supporting those who need to care for elderly relatives, and growing the economy by one-fifth to 600 trillion yen.

The package of steps includes measures to reduce household burdens on preschool education so as to provide "seamless support" from pregnancy, birth to child rearing, the sources said.

To eliminate the need to quit work to care for elderly relatives and enhance productivity of nursing-care business, the government will help promote special nursing-care homeS for the aged, they said.

($1 = 122.5300 yen) (Writing by Kaori Kaneko and Tetsushi Kajimoto; Editing by Tom Hogue and Sanjeev Miglani)

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.