PM Takaichi Vows to Submit Draft Extra Budget Next Week

Tokyo, May 25 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said Monday that the government will compile a draft fiscal 2026 supplementary budget to deal with high inflation reflecting Middle East tensions for submission to the Diet, or parliament, next week.

The size of the extra budget will be slightly more than 3 trillion yen, she told reporters. The government will set up new reserve funds in response to the Middle East situation that can be used for measures related to higher energy prices, she said.

Takaichi also said that planned utility-related subsidies will reduce electricity and gas bills in July-September by a total of about 5,000 yen per household.

"We will strengthen our efforts to prevent impacts on people's lives and livelihoods as well as economic activities," she said.

About 500 billion yen from the 1-trillion-yen reserve funds under the fiscal 2026 state budget will be used for the electricity and gas subsidies for this summer. The measure is expected to be adopted at a cabinet meeting Tuesday.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]