Katayama Seeks Cooperation to Pass Extra Budget

Tokyo, Dec. 8 (Jiji Press)–Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama on Monday called for cooperation from both ruling and opposition parties to enact the government’s supplementary budget swiftly. The Japanese economy is not strong enough as inflation has continued to outpace wage growth, Katayama said in a speech at a plenary meeting of the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of parliament. “To bring back a strong economy to Japan, we should pass the supplementary budget bill as soon as possible,” she said. Katayama made the comments after the government submitted the fiscal 2025 extra budget bill earlier on Monday. The budget sets aside 18.3 trillion yen in general-account spending to pay for measures included in the government’s recently adopted economic package. The finance minister said that the government will take steps quickly to address inflation concerns. “We’ll protect people’s lives” and “turn anxiety toward the future into hope,” she said. The amount of general-account spending under the extra budget is larger than the 13.9 trillion yen earmarked under the previous year’s extra budget. Katayama said the amount of government bonds issued under the fiscal 2025 full and extra budgets together will be smaller than in the previous year in an effort to keep state finances sustainable. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]