Asahi wrote that the GOJ is making arrangements to develop an additional emergency economic stimulus package in April to underpin the economy amid a slowdown due to the coronavirus outbreak. A senior Kantei official reportedly told the paper that the Abe administration will compile a large-scale supplementary budget. The daily speculated that Prime Minister Abe is planning to instruct relevant government agencies to draw up plans for a fresh package after the Diet passes the fiscal 2020 budget. The paper wrote that this will be the first time for the GOJ to compile an extra budget in April since it formulated a 15.4 trillion yen ($150 billion) package in 2009 in response to the financial crisis triggered by the collapse of Lehman Brothers.