Abe unveils financial aid for areas hit by rains
Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says the government will provide financial support to areas in western Japan that were hit hard recently by record-high rainfall.
Abe unveiled the first set of such measures at a meeting of the government's emergency taskforce on Monday.
They include offering interest-free loans to disaster-affected farmers and fishers for 5 years.
The measures also include extending moratoriums on debt repayment for smaller businesses.
Abe said the government will do all it can to make sure affected business owners can begin efforts to recover from the disaster to restart business as soon as possible.
He said the government will continue to take a hands-on approach from the affected areas' viewpoints and implement concrete measures to quickly repair damage and rebuild survivors' lives.
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