Efforts to curb rising social security spending and rehabilitate tattered government finances should continue at the same level as the last three years until fiscal 2018, according to a draft of the Abe administration's fiscal and economic policy blueprint.
But the draft fails to set a specific numerical target for spending under the general budget, as the administration is counting on a revenue increase derived from economic growth to achieve its key fiscal reform goal of turning the primary balance into a surplus by fiscal 2020.
The draft, released Monday, calls on the government to limit increases in social security spending at ¥1.5 trillion in the next three years through fiscal 2018, the same level posted in the past three years.