Japan Government's 2026 Fiscal Year Budget Approved, Largest Ever at 122.3 Trillion Yen

According to the "Mainichi Shimbun," Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae's original goal was to pass the new fiscal year's central government general budget within the 2025 fiscal year, which ended on March 31 this year. However, the ruling party did not hold a majority in the House of Councillors, and the deliberation did not proceed as she planned, resulting in the budget being approved a week later than her target. In the House of Councillors, the combined seats of the Liberal Democratic Party and its ruling coalition partner, Nippon Ishin no Kai, were four seats short of the 124-seat majority. During the vote in the plenary session of the House of Councillors, after negotiations with the Conservative Party, which holds two seats, they voted in favor of the budget, and four independent members also cast affirmative votes. In the Budget Committee before the plenary session vote in the House of Councillors, the votes for and against were equal. According to the National Diet Law, the budget was passed by the chairman's decision. This was the first time in 46 years, since 1980, that the votes for and against a budget bill were equal. After the budget was approved, Takaichi told the media, "Although it is regrettable that it could not be approved within the fiscal year, the result of continuously and honestly responding to deliberations in the Diet for a period of time has minimized the risk to national life as much as possible." Because Takaichi dissolved the House of Representatives at the beginning of the year, the House of Representatives' budget deliberation started about a month later than usual, in late February. As she insisted on approval within the fiscal year, the House of Representatives, leveraging the ruling party's three-quarters majority, compressed the deliberation time to 59 hours, the shortest since the current system was implemented in 2000, and passed it on March 13. However, the House of Councillors, where the opposition party holds a majority, demanded sufficient deliberation, ultimately thwarting Takaichi's plan to pass the budget by the end of March. Although the deliberation time in the House of Councillors is usually shorter than in the House of Representatives, the Budget Committee's deliberation time also reached 59 hours, the same as the House of Representatives. The Japanese government had compiled a provisional budget as a "bridge," but the provisional budget will become invalid once the central government general budget is approved. This is also the first central government general budget proposed by the Takaichi administration after proposing the policy of "responsible proactive fiscal policy." According to NHK, the general account total for Japan's new fiscal year's central government budget is 122 trillion 309.2 billion yen (approximately 24.9 trillion New Taiwan dollars), an increase of 7 trillion 111.4 billion yen from the 2025 fiscal year, setting a new historical high. In terms of major expenditures, social security expenses are 39 trillion 55.9 billion yen, accounting for about one-third of the total. With the aging population increasing medical and pension expenditures, this is an increase of 762.1 billion yen from the previous fiscal year's budget. Defense-related expenses increased by 315.3 billion yen to 8 trillion 984.3 billion yen, and funds were allocated to improve the treatment of Self-Defense Forces personnel to address the shortage of personnel. Education and science promotion expenses increased by 384.6 billion yen to 6 trillion 40.6 billion yen, which includes expenses for free high school education and reducing the burden of school lunch fees. Local allocation tax grants are budgeted at 20 trillion 877.8 billion yen, and public works expenses are 6 trillion 107.8 billion yen. "National debt expenses" for repaying national debt and paying interest increased by 3 trillion 57.9 billion yen to 31 trillion 275.8 billion yen, setting a new historical high. About one-quarter of the total expenditures will be used for debt repayment and other purposes; a reserve fund of 1 trillion yen is allocated to respond to rapid economic changes or disasters. In terms of revenue, tax revenue is expected to increase by 5 trillion 916.0 billion yen from the previous fiscal year to 83 trillion 735.0 billion yen, also a new historical high. Among them, corporate tax is expected to increase by 1 trillion 451.0 billion yen from the previous fiscal year to 20 trillion 696.0 billion yen due to stable corporate performance; consumption tax increased by 1 trillion 780.0 billion yen to 26 trillion 688.0 billion yen due to rising prices; income tax increased by 2 trillion 659.0 billion yen to 25 trillion 325.0 billion yen due to expected salary increases driving income growth. Even so, there is still a gap of 29 trillion 584.0 billion yen, which Japan will raise by issuing new national debt, indicating a reliance on national debt of 24.2%. (Compiler: Yang Wei-ching) 1150408