The government's budget for fiscal 2019 makes abundantly clear where Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's priorities lie when it comes to the economy.
The spending plan, which received Cabinet approval on Friday and is now headed to the Diet in January, shows government outlays rise above ¥100 trillion ($900 billion) in an initial budget for the first time, pushed over the threshold by ¥2 trillion in funding for measures to lessen the shock of raising the consumption tax in October.
The colossal sum is a testament to Abe's desire to prevent the tax hike from putting the brakes on the economy by triggering a plunge in domestic demand, as happened after the previous increase in 2014.