The government, while planning strict budget limitations for the next fiscal year, will give special treatment to upcoming request items that are deemed important for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's growth policy, NHK reported Wednesday.
To stabilize the nation's finances, which are in tatters, the government plans to strictly control the fiscal 2015 budget, as the state ministries and agencies prepare their requests for outlays that will be submitted by the end of August. But any request that would contribute to promoting Abe's "third arrow" policy will be given separate consideration from such limitations, said NHK, which did not cite sources.
The government has incorporated the goal in the standards for fiscal 2015 budgetary requests, which call for limiting expenditures on so-called discretionary spending, including for public works and other special outlays, to 10 percent below the levels for the current fiscal year.
But budgetary requests for key policy areas, such as measures to support the competitiveness of businesses and those intended to address the rapid decline in Japan's population, would be given separate consideration, according to NHK.
Such separate requests are expected to total ¥3 trillion, and the government may approve up to 4 trillion, NHK said.