Japan Govt Submits FY 2026 Draft Budget to Parliament

Tokyo, Feb. 20 (Jiji Press)–The Japanese government submitted to the Diet, the country’s parliament, on Friday a draft fiscal 2026 budget, which was compiled under Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s “responsible and proactive” fiscal policy. General-account spending under the draft budget for the year starting in April totals 122,309.2 billion yen, larger than the 115,197.8 billion yen under the fiscal 2025 initial budget and hitting a record high for the second consecutive year. Meanwhile, the primary budget balance, an indicator of a nation’s fiscal health, is expected to return to a surplus for the first time in 28 years, supported by projected tax revenue growth. The submission of the draft budget came about a month later than usual, due to the Jan. 23 dissolution of the House of Representatives and the Feb. 8 subsequent general election for the lower chamber of the Diet. Takaichi, however, aims to have it passed by the March 31 end of fiscal 2025. At a meeting Friday, Hiroshi Kajiyama, Diet affairs chief of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, informed his counterparts from opposition parties of the ruling side’s intention to enact the budget before the start of fiscal 2026 and sought their cooperation. He did not give a specific deliberation schedule for the Lower House Budget Committee. Given the limited time available, the focus is whether thorough deliberations will be held on the draft budget. At a press conference after a cabinet meeting Friday, Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said, “We will seek cooperation from the opposition side to pass the draft budget within the current fiscal year to ensure that people’s lives are not affected.” If passage by March 31 is difficult, the government would consider measures to mitigate the impact, such as compiling a stopgap budget. In talks with reporters after the meeting with Kajiyama, Kazuhiko Shigetoku, Diet affairs chief of the major opposition Centrist Reform Alliance, said that full-fledged deliberations are necessary because the budget features record-high spending. Of the total expenditures, social security-related spending is slated to reach 39,055.9 billion yen. Debt-servicing costs, or interest payments and principal repayments on Japanese government bonds, are set to total 31,275.8 billion yen. Spending linked to free high school education and free elementary school meals is also included. On the revenue side, tax income is projected to hit a record high of 83,735 billion yen. New government bond issuance to cover revenue shortfalls will total 29,584 billion yen, or about 24.2 pct of the planned general-account spending. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]