Japan FY 2024 budget requests hit record at around 114 tril. yen

Budget requests by Japanese government offices for the next fiscal year likely hit a record of around 114 trillion yen ($780 billion), a Kyodo News tally showed Thursday, as increased debt-servicing costs added to the uptick in defense and social security spending. The general account budget for fiscal 2024, starting next April, could surpass the 114.38 trillion yen allocated for the current year. The Finance Ministry will screen the requests before drafting the budget in December. Ministries and agencies had to submit their requests to the ministry by Thursday. While the exact size of spendin...