Japan Begins Preparing Stopgap Budget

Tokyo, March 24 (Jiji Press)–The Japanese government has begun preparing a stopgap budget in case that its fiscal 2026 budget bill is not enacted by March 31, the end of fiscal 2025, Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said Tuesday. This will be the first stopgap budget since 2015. It will cover necessary expenses for the 11 days from April 1, the start of fiscal 2026. “We’ll work to compile a provisional budget to prepare for contingencies,” Katayama said at a press conference. Still, she emphasized that passing the fiscal 2026 budget bill by the end of fiscal 2025 is “necessary.” While the stopgap budget is expected to finance minimum necessary measures, including those related to pensions and medical services, Katayama suggested that it could also cover “new measures that are especially needed,” such as the planned implementation of free high school tuition in April. On March 13, the fiscal 2026 budget bill cleared the House of Representatives, the all-important lower chamber of the Diet, and was sent to the House of Councillors, the upper chamber, where the ruling bloc lacks a majority. Due to the Lower House’s constitutional superiority, the budget bill will automatically be enacted on April 12, even without an Upper House vote. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]