11 in Cabinet fancy cash handout

Eleven of Prime Minister Taro Aso's 17 Cabinet ministers said Friday they plan to accept benefits under a controversial ¥2 trillion cash handout program.

The cash plan is part of the second supplementary budget and aims to boost domestic consumption in the quickly deteriorating economy.

The government's cash payout program calls for providing ¥12,000 to each person. The amount will be raised to ¥20,000 for those aged 18 or younger and 65 or older.

Akira Amari, minister of state for regulatory reform, was the only Cabinet member who declared he will decline the handout that opposition lawmakers have condemned as a waste of taxpayer money.

The other five ministers did not make clear whether they would accept the cash handouts, which were initially conceived as a way to help people struggling with their day-to-day living but are now being pitched as a way to spur consumer spending.

For himself, Aso has repeatedly said he will decide whether to claim the handout after the extra budget clears the Diet.

The 11 ministers were internal affairs minister Kunio Hatoyama, Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone, education minister Ryu Shionoya, farm minister Shigeru Ishiba, land minister Kazuyoshi Kaneko, Environment Minister Tetsuo Saito, Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada, Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura, National Public Safety Commission Chairman Tsutomu Sato, Seiko Noda, minister of state for consumer affairs, and Yuko Obuchi, minister on declining childbirths.

The five ministers whose responses are unclear were Justice Minister Eisuke Mori, Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa, health minister Yoichi Masuzoe, Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Toshihiro Nikai and Kaoru Yosano, minister of state for economic and fiscal policy.

Noda told a news conference she plans to spend the cash at her hometown in Gifu Prefecture, as much as possible, and contribute to the government's economy-boosting efforts.

Saito, who is a lawmaker from Buddhist-backed New Komeito, said he plans to purchase energy-saving products.

Amari told reporters he would not claim the handout but instead provide his family with money from his own pocket to help them spend at their hometown shopping streets.