The Finance Ministry on Wednesday proposed a record-high defense budget of 4.955 trillion yen for fiscal 2001, which is a 0.4 percent rise over the initial budget for fiscal 2000, a ministry official said.
The amount includes 6.4 billion yen to help reorganize the Tokyo-based 1st Division of the Ground Self-Defense Force's Eastern Army into a specially equipped antiguerrilla unit and to study countermeasures for nuclear and biochemical weapons.
The largest share of the budget, 2.23 trillion yen, goes to personnel expenditures and food supplies, for an increase of 23.5 billion yen. Annual payments for multiyear contracts follow at 1.77 trillion yen, down 12.2 billion yen.