Budget requests by ministries and agencies for fiscal 2022 are expected to total over ¥110 trillion ($1 trillion) for the first time, due to swelling debt-servicing costs amid the COVID-19 pandemic, government sources said Thursday.
The requests for the year starting next April, to be filed by next Tuesday, are set to hit a record high for the fourth straight year.
After assessing the requests, the Finance Ministry will draft the initial state budget in December before Diet deliberations. The draft could also eclipse the initial fiscal 2021 budget of ¥106.61 trillion, which included ¥5 trillion in funds reserved for responding to the pandemic.