Japan's parliament on Tuesday enacted a record ¥114.38 trillion ($870 billion) budget for the new fiscal year from April to strengthen defense capabilities in the face of security threats from its neighbors and to support the economy, which has been struggling with inflation.
The defense budget will reach ¥6.82 trillion, the largest on record. Fiscal 2023 marks the start of a five-year period intended to fundamentally revamp the country's defense posture, by spending a combined ¥43 trillion to cope with an increasingly assertive China alongside a nuclear-armed North Korea and a volatile Russia.
The government of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is aiming to double its annual defense budget to around 2% of gross domestic product from the current 1% while upholding its postwar pacifist credo.