Japan set to approve record-breaking budget for fiscal year

On April 7, Japan’s Diet, the country’s national legislature (parliament), is set to approve a 122.31 trillion yen ($766 billion) budget for the fiscal year ending March 2027.

This marks the first time in 11 years that the annual budget has not been approved before the start of the new fiscal year on April 1, Caliber.Az reports per Japanese media.

The budget reflects Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s expansionary fiscal policies aimed at stimulating economic growth, but it does not include measures to offset rising energy costs or other impacts of the war in Iran. Opposition parties have already called for consideration of an additional budget.

The budget bill passed the lower house on March 13 and is expected to receive upper house approval on April 7. For the second consecutive year, the budget is record-breaking, allocating 9.04 trillion yen ($56.63 billion) for defence for the first time. To cover the deficit, the government plans to issue new bonds totalling 29.58 trillion yen ($185.13 billion), highlighting the country’s high reliance on borrowing.

Earlier, on March 30, a temporary budget of 8.56 trillion yen ($53.63 billion) was approved to fund government operations for 11 days, including social payments and expanded subsidies for private high school education.

By Jeyhun Aghazada