Japan plans to end Tokyo's state of emergency, eyes fresh $930 bn stimulus

Social distancing curbs were removed for most of the country on May 14 as new infections fell, but the government had kept Tokyo and four other prefectures under watch.

Japan is looking to lift a state of emergency for Tokyo and remaining areas still facing restrictions while also considering fresh stimulus worth almost $1 trillion to help companies ride out the coronavirus pandemic, Nikkei reported on Monday.

Social distancing curbs were removed for most of the country on May 14 as new infections fell, but the government had kept Tokyo and four other prefectures under watch.

The government will seek approval from key advisers for the lifting on Monday. If approved, Japan would have no regions under the state of emergency, which was first instated on April 7.

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike has said the capital would swiftly move into "stage one" of the lifting of curbs if the government ends the state of emergency. That would allow libraries and museums to reopen, and restaurants to stay open until later in the evening. Subsequent stages would see theatres, cinemas, and fairgrounds reopen.

While the world's third-largest economy has escaped an explosive outbreak with some 17,000 infections and 825 deaths so far, the epidemic has tipped it into a recession and plunged Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's popularity to multi-year lows.

An Asahi newspaper poll conducted at the weekend showed Abe's support rate at 29% - the lowest since he returned to power in late 2012 - and disapproval at 52%. The results mirrored a Mainichi newspaper survey published on Saturday.

Abe will hold a news conference at 6 p.m. (0900 GMT), where he is expected to announce the plan to lift the emergency state.

$280 million: Money Indian taxpayers paid for Modi's 84 trips in 4.5 years

Narendra Modi's trip to Japan in 2016 - which came immediately demonetisation - led to accusations by Opposition that he was travelling the world while ordinary Indians were struggling.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s hectic travel schedule over the past four-and-a-half years cost Indian taxpayers about $280 million (Rs 20.09 billion taking the value of rupee as 71.76 per dollar) as he made 84 trips around the world, according to India’s foreign ministry.

The money spent on each trip, combined with the cost of maintenance on Air India One and setting up a secure hotline, was provided in a response to a lawmaker’s question in parliament by V K Singh, the country’s junior foreign minister.

Since taking office, Modi has maintained a punishing pace of world travel, meeting some global leaders such as US President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe multiple times in a bid to boost India’s influence in global affairs and secure its strategic interests.

Some of his trips, including an informal summit with Xi Jinping in the Chinese city of Wuhan, are credited as diplomatic successes. His meeting with China’s leader after a tense stand-off in the Himalayas was seen as ushering in a detente between the world’s two most-populous countries.

Others generated some controversy.

His trip to Japan in 2016 -- which came immediately after Modi eliminated 86 per cent of India’s currency, sending millions into bank queues to exchange worthless cash -- led to accusations by the opposition that he was travelling the world while ordinary Indians were struggling.

Some were also a bit odd. While on a trip to Africa, Modi -- a vegetarian and devout Hindu nationalist who reveres and worships bovines -- gave Rwandan villagers 200 dairy cows on a beef-eating continent where there is a possibility of them getting slaughtered.

He also signed a memorandum of understanding to open a yoga college in China’s Yunnan province, and pledged to cooperate with Turkmenistan on both yoga and traditional Indian medicine, according to the statement.

These sorts of agreements -- aspirational, though sometimes vaguely-worded -- were signed with countries as varied as China and Palestine. In Oman, a memorandum of understanding was signed pledging "cooperation in the field of health." In Portugal, Modi’s diplomats pledged to cooperate "in the exploration and uses of outer space for peaceful purposes," an agreement India also struck with Vietnam and Oman.

Business Standard