Japan Data

Japan’s 2012 Budget

Politics Lifestyle

In December 2011, the government approved the draft budget for fiscal 2012. At over ¥96 trillion, the largest budget in Japan’s history includes funds for the 3/11 recovery effort. For the third straight year, government bonds outstrip taxation as a revenue source to cover spending.

A ¥90.33 Trillion General Account Budget

On December 24, 2011, the government approved the draft budget for fiscal 2012 in an extraordinary cabinet meeting. The general account budget is ¥90.33 trillion. Financing from national bonds covers 49% of this budget, the highest proportion ever for an initial budget; this is the third consecutive year for financing from bonds to exceed that from taxation.

The general account figure is down 2.2% from fiscal 2011. It does not, however, include special “government compensation bonds” (kōfu kokusai), namely, the ¥3.78 trillion to be spent on reconstruction of the region hit by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami and the ¥2.59 trillion in expenditures for the pension fund to cover payments the government is expected to make in the upcoming fiscal year. When those bonds are included, overall expenditures for fiscal 2012 will reach ¥96.70 trillion, an all-time high for a draft budget.

tax increase Noda Yoshihiko social security consumption tax Diet budget fiscal 2012 recovery budget national bonds general accounts