Gov't to extend cash handouts to 2 mil registered foreign residents

TOKYO —

The government said Saturday it has decided to recognize 2 million foreigners registered as residents with local governments as of next Feb 1 as eligible for cash benefits it will hand out next year as a fiscal measure to spur private consumption.

The government will recognize foreigners registered as residents on the foreign registry as of Feb 1, 2009 as qualified recipients of the cash handout under the 2 trillion yen program, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.

Among the 2 million recipients are permanent foreign residents, such as North and South Korean residents in Japan, as well as foreign workers of Japanese ancestry who have residential permits as migrant workers, the ministry said.

Foreigners studying at Japanese schools as well as foreigners accepted as trainees by Japanese companies are also recognized as qualified recipients.

Foreign tourists, foreigners overstaying their visas and other illegal aliens will not be recognized as legitimate recipients, the ministry said.

The administration of Prime Minister Taro Aso approved on Saturday a second supplementary budget that includes the handouts as its main pillar.

The ministry said Feb 1 is the set date for deciding on eligibility for the handouts for both Japanese citizens and registered foreigners. The number of recipients, including foreigners, will total 129 million.

Japanese citizens and foreigners will basically be given 12,000 yen per person, but an extra 8,000 yen will be given to recipients up to and including 18 years old as of the standard date, as well as to recipients 65 years old or older.

Local government officials will check on such recipients’ ages when the cash handouts are disbursed. This means that those receiving additional payouts must be young people born on Feb 2, 1990, or later and elderly people born on Feb 2, 1944, or before.

Feb 2 became the defining date because Japanese law adds one more year to a person’s legal age at midnight on the day before he or she is born, the ministry said.

Consequently, people whose 65th birthday falls on next Feb 2 are counted among qualified recipients of the cash.

The older qualified recipients will total 28 million, while young recipients up to and including 18 years old will number 22 million persons.

But babies who will be born exactly on next Feb 2 or after will not be recognized as qualified recipients, because the government is designating Feb 1 as the defining date for eligibility, it said.

The cash will be handed out through the offices of the local governments at which Japanese citizens or foreigners are registered as residents.

The payments assume that the second extra budget and other relevant bills will pass the Diet. They also assume that local assemblies will pass budgetary bills to cover expenses for administering the payments.

It is not yet known, therefore, whether the government will be able to hand out the cash benefits prior to next March 31 because deliberations on these bills may drag on.

Posted in: