Japan to tap $33mn of budget reserves for earthquake response

TOKYO: Japan will tap 4.74 billion yen ($32.7 million) of budget reserves to cover damages from the New Year’s Day earthquake disaster in its northwestern region of Ishikawa, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Friday.

Kishida has asked Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki to proceed with the steps needed to boost the reserve budget, he added.

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On Thursday, Kishida said the cabinet would approve the emergency funding next week as his government moves to tackle the aftermath of the earthquake, which had a magnitude of 7.6.