Tokyo, May 14 (Jiji Press)–The Japanese government Thursday proposed a measure to give students struggling financially due to the coronavirus crisis between 100,000 yen and 200,000 yen per person in cash.

The measure was presented to the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s policy chief, Fumio Kishida, and his counterpart in the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, Seiji Osaka.

The assistance, in line with a proposal by the LDP, is expected to cost around 50 billion yen.

The government is seen utilizing reserve funds under the fiscal 2020 supplementary budget that passed the Diet, Japan’s parliament, in late April.

Struggling students from low-income households exempted from resident tax will be eligible to receive 200,000 yen, while those from higher-income families will be given half the amount.

The measure is expected to cover some 400,000 students who face difficulty continuing studies at universities, junior colleges, vocational schools and Japanese language schools due to decreased incomes amid the COVID-19 crisis.

Osaka praised the planned inclusion of Japanese language school students. He said that he will take the proposal to a parliamentary group of opposition parties for consideration.

“We asked for 200,000 yen, so whether 100,000 yen is fine is one point of discussion,” he said.