Japan's Suga, likely next PM, says ready to top up payouts to ease COVID-19 pain

FILE PHOTO : Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga poses for a photograph in front of television screens during a Thomson Reuters Newsmaker event in Tokyo, Japan August 30, 2016. REUTERS/Issei Kato /File Photo

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, widely expected to become prime minister next week, said on Saturday he will consider topping up payouts to households and companies to cushion the economic blow from the coronavirus pandemic.

Suga also defended his experience in diplomacy, an area where experts say his resume is rather thin, while steering clear of clues to whether he would call a snap election if he takes over from outgoing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.