Japan Cabinet approves US$19.5b supplementary budget to help cushion rising energy costs

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's Cabinet has approved a US$19.5 billion supplementary budget to help households struggling with rising energy costs as the Middle East conflict drags on. However, this has raised concerns about Japan's fiscal health among observers. The bulk of the supplementary budget will go towards forming a US$15.6 billion reserve fund to respond to the instability in the Middle East, where Japan sources about 95% of its oil. The government has been providing fuel subsidies from its existing reserve fund, which is usually kept for emergencies such as natural disasters. Michiyo Ishida reports from Tokyo.