A group of lawmakers from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party has compiled a draft proposal urging the government to pay for an increase in defense spending by issuing government bonds, not by raising taxes.
In the proposal, learned of Friday, the group of young LDP members supporting aggressive fiscal spending said that the government "should not implement tax hikes that deprive citizens of disposable income and further reduce domestic demand."
It plans to submit the proposal to LDP policy chief Koichi Hagiuda soon.
A government panel of experts argued in a report last month that the public needs to shoulder the costs for boosting defense expenditures "through a wide range of taxes."
With the proposal, the lawmaker group aims to counter attempts to raise corporate and income taxes by members of the government and the ruling parties.
The proposal also calls on the government to consider scrapping the rule that obliges the government to fully redeem government bonds within 60 years of their issuance, including refinancing periods, while also using funds set aside for bond redemption to pay defense costs.
Japan aims to increase its defense budget and related spending to 2% of its gross domestic product in fiscal 2027.
On the hotly debated topic of whether to include the Japan Coast Guard budget in the 2% target, the proposal opposed the inclusion, saying that "the JCG is not under the command of the Self-Defense Forces and does not conduct joint training with them."