Japan to Set Aside Record Spending for FY 2026

Tokyo, Dec. 24 (Jiji Press)--The Japanese government plans to set aside around 122.3 trillion yen in general-account spending under its fiscal 2026 budget, a record high for the second straight year following 115,197.8 billion yen in the previous year's initial budget, people familiar with the matter said Wednesday.

Tax revenue in the year starting next April is expected to reach a record 83.7 trillion yen thanks to higher prices and robust corporate earnings.

With expenditures set to grow faster than tax revenue, however, the issue amount of government bonds, excluding refinancing bonds, is expected to increase to some 29.6 trillion yen from 28,647.1 billion yen under the fiscal 2025 initial budget.

The government is slated to adopt its fiscal 2026 budget plan on Friday. It will be the first full-scale budget under Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who took office in October.

The government plans to submit the budget plan to the Diet, the country's parliament, in January, aiming to pass it by the end of fiscal 2025.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]