WNAM REPORT: The government submitted to parliament on Monday its fiscal 2024 draft supplementary budget, with ¥13.94 trillion ($92.97 billion) in general-account spending.
The budget will finance a comprehensive economic package, the first under Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s administration, including measures to tackle inflation and aid for areas affected by natural disasters in the Noto Peninsula. It is larger than the ¥13.19 trillion supplementary budget of the previous fiscal year.
The government hopes the budget will be enacted during the current extraordinary parliamentary session ending on Dec. 21.
“The most important task is to increase wages and income now and in the future for all generations,” Ishiba has said.
The ruling coalition of his Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito failed to secure a majority in the recent general election for the House of Representatives, the all-important lower chamber of the country’s parliament. The ruling camp hopes to gain the support of other parties, including the Democratic Party for the People, to swiftly pass the budget.
Of the total spending planned in the draft budget, ¥5.75 trillion will go to encouraging wage hikes, strengthening the semiconductor industry and other measures to promote the growth of the Japanese national and local economies.
Meanwhile, ¥3.38 trillion is intended for measures to combat inflation, including a resumption of power and city gas bill subsidies and benefits for low-income households, and ¥4.79 trillion for ensuring the safety and security of citizens, including restoring infrastructure in the Noto Peninsula.
The government’s tax revenues are projected to exceed the previous forecast by ¥3.82 trillion in fiscal 2024, so the government plans to utilize the extra revenue to help finance the supplementary budget.
However, the draft calls for issuing an additional ¥6.69 trillion in government bonds to cover a funding shortfall, meaning that nearly half of the budget will be covered by bonds.
