The government is set to raise defense spending by ¥1 trillion ($7.34 billion) to around ¥6.5 trillion in the next fiscal year as part of efforts to earmark ¥43 trillion for the five-year defense build-up plan, three sources with direct knowledge of the matter said Friday.
The budget increase is aimed at procurement of ammunition and expenses related to long-range missiles, the sources said on condition of anonymity as the plan has not yet been finalized.
The fiscal 2023 budget spending on defense would compare with a record ¥5.4 trillion earmarked for the current fiscal year.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has announced plans to lift defense spending to an amount equivalent of 2% of gross domestic product within five years, from 1% now, to cope with an increasingly assertive China and unpredictable North Korea.
As part of the plan for ¥43 trillion in defense spending over the next five years, Kishida's government would spend ¥5 trillion on stand-off missiles and another ¥5 trillion for ammunition purchases, the sources said. One of the sources said the defense budget "would increase by ¥1 trillion every year over the next five years."