Japan Approves Massive USD118B Emergency Spending Budget

(MENAFN) Japan's legislative body approved a massive $118 billion emergency spending plan on Tuesday for the ongoing fiscal year, representing the nation's most substantial budgetary expansion since the COVID-19 crisis.

Both chambers of parliament—the House of Representatives and the House of Councillors—greenlit the extraordinary funding measures tied to Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's aggressive economic stimulus initiative, media reported.

The supplementary allocation significantly expands Japan's original $745.6 billion fiscal blueprint, which runs from April through March. Tuesday's approval marks the country's biggest single-year budget increase since fiscal 2022, when pandemic-related expenses peaked.

Household relief commands $57 billion of the emergency funds, targeting cost-of-living pressures through utility subsidies covering electricity and natural gas bills during January, February, and March. The relief framework also delivers direct payments to families raising children and channels resources to municipal governments nationwide.

Crisis preparedness and economic expansion investments will absorb $41 billion under the approved plan, while defense and international relations secure an additional $10 billion allocation.

The military funding boost accelerates Tokyo's timeline for reaching NATO's defense spending benchmark of 2% of gross domestic product, now projected for fiscal 2025—two years earlier than previously outlined.

Opposition members condemned the spending surge, warning that Japan's already fragile fiscal position faces further deterioration amid mounting national debt concerns.

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