Japan Lower House Passes FY 2023 Budget

Tokyo, Feb. 28 (Jiji Press)--The House of Representatives on Tuesday passed the Japanese government's fiscal 2023 budget bill with record general-account spending of 114,381.2 billion yen.

The bill was approved at the plenary meeting of the lower chamber of the Diet, Japan's parliament, with support mainly from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner, Komeito. It was sent to the House of Councillors, the upper chamber.

Voting against it were the leading opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and other opposition parties including Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Innovation Party) and the Democratic Party for the People.

The bill is set to be enacted before the April 1 start of the fiscal year even without a vote by the Upper House due to the Lower House's constitutional superiority over the upper chamber.

Of the general-account expenditures, which hit a record high for the 11th consecutive year, social security costs stand at 36,888.9 billion yen, accounting for over 30 pct of the total due to the country's aging population.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]