Surplus in the Japanese government's foreign exchange special account stood at a record high of ¥5.36 trillion ($36 billion) at the end of fiscal 2024, a Finance Ministry report showed Thursday.
The amount of surplus was up by ¥787.8 billion from the initially estimated level, as investment returns expanded thanks to the yen's depreciation and rises in foreign interest rates.
The ministry will transfer ¥3.2 trillion out of the surplus to the general account of the government's fiscal 2025 budget. Of the figure, about ¥1 trillion will be used for measures to strengthen the country's defense capabilities.
The portion of the surplus exceeding the forecast will be booked as revenue of the special account. How to use the money will be decided later.
The special account is used for the country's foreign exchange market interventions, among other purposes.
The report also showed that expenditures under the fiscal 2024 general account decreased ¥4.55 trillion from the previous year to ¥123 trillion.
Revenue fell ¥4.22 trillion to ¥135.98 trillion. While tax revenue grew, the issuance of government bonds was reduced.
Revenue outpaced expenditures by ¥12.95 trillion, and ¥10.24 trillion out of the net income will be carried over to the general account for fiscal 2025, which ends in March 2026.
As a result, surplus in the general account totals ¥2.26 trillion. Half of the amount will be used to redeem government bonds and the other half to cover part of the planned increase in defense spending.
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