With elections coming and the pandemic yet to be quashed, a record annual budget of ¥106.6 trillion passed Friday by the Diet is likely to be just the start for a government that already has the developed world’s heaviest debt burden.
Japan’s spending plan for the year beginning in April represents a 3.8% increase from 2020’s initial budget. Actual spending could rise higher, given Japan’s repeated use of extra budgets, three of which were drafted last year to fight the coronavirus, adding ¥73 trillion to the debt pile.
Still, the government is unlikely to add as much spending as it did at the height of the COVID-19 crisis. With the economy seen to be recovering from the latest state of emergency, there is less urgency to put together an extra budget within a month of the annual budget as happened last year.