Budget requests for fiscal 2015 have surged a record ¥101.7 trillion amid Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's push to halt Japan's population decline and remilitarize, government officials said Friday.
It is the first time general-account budget requests have topped the ¥100 trillion ($961.7 billion) line, highlighting the difficulties Japan will face in restoring its fiscal health, which is the worst among the major industrialized economies.
The general-account budget requests for the fiscal year starting April 2015 were around ¥6 trillion higher than ¥95.9 trillion set aside for the fiscal 2014 initial budget.