Japan’s parliament approves record-high budget draft for fiscal year 2022

Japan’s upper house of parliament has approved a budget draft for the fiscal year starting April 1, 2022, after it was given the green light by the House of Representatives at the end of February. This would be the highest budget level ever. Japan for the 10th consecutive year.

According to the draft, the budget will allocate 36.270 billion yen – the largest ever spending on social security to tackle Japan’s rapidly aging population. This is up from 35.830 billion yen the previous year, more than 30% of total spending. The budget for defense spending is 5.4 trillion yen, also a record high number, in the context of the Japanese government’s target to promote the development of new technologies for national security. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the government has set aside 5 trillion yen as a reserve fund for future responses, corresponding to the amount used in fiscal 2021. This amount can be disbursed. without congressional approval.

It is expected that, after issuing the draft fiscal 2022 budget, the government and the ruling coalition between the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the Justice Party in Japan will draft a bailout package to address the situation. Fuel costs are increasing.