The Yomiuri said, citing unidentified sources, that a second extra budget this fiscal year would be small and aimed at reconstruction, not stimulus. The prime minister's office did not immediately comment.
Japan is considering a second extra budget this fiscal year, focused on reconstruction after earthquakes and heavy rain, the Yomiuri newspaper reported on Wednesday. Reuters said the paper cited a few unidentified sources and that the prime minister's office was not immediately available to comment.
The Yomiuri said the package is likely to be small and is not meant to stimulate the economy. Work would begin in November, with the aim of passing it in the ordinary parliamentary session that starts early next year.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has pledged to stop the long practice of large extra budgets and to put necessary spending in the annual budget. The paper said the administration would still consider a small second package, mainly for disaster relief.
The report follows an extra budget of about 3 trillion yen, about 19 billion dollars, compiled in June for gasoline subsidies tied to higher living costs and the Middle East conflict. Reuters used a rate of 158.21 yen to the dollar.
No draft total for the second package, and no cabinet decision, was published. Until the government confirms the Yomiuri account, the plan remains a newspaper report.