Japan to Create New Budgetary Framework to Boost Defense Spending

Tokyo, Nov. 9 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Wednesday that the country will create a new budgetary framework that brings together security-related expenditures across government agencies.

Kishida unveiled the plan at a meeting of a panel of experts commissioned by the government to discuss how the country should enhance its defenses.

The new budgetary framework will be introduced starting in fiscal 2024 to achieve a significant increase in the country's defense spending promised by Kishida.

The new framework will include spending on security-related research and development, infrastructure, international cooperation and cybersecurity, items that are not counted as defense spending currently.

At the meeting, Kishida said that details of the comprehensive framework for defense spending should be discussed in a forward-looking way, based on the needs of the Defense Ministry and the Japan Coast Guard. The new framework will not count expenditures by the ministry and the JCG.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]