Japan approves 114.3 trillion yen draft budget for fiscal 2023

Japan’s House of Representatives has approved a draft budget for the 2023 fiscal year worth 114.3 trillion yen (about $840 billion). The new fiscal year draft budget, prepared by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its ally Komeito, was approved by the parliamentary session. The record-breaking draft budget will cover the period from April 2023 to March 2024 and will amount to 114.3 trillion yen ($840 billion). Tax revenues are estimated at 69.4 trillion yen ($509 billion) for the fiscal year, part of which will be covered by government bonds. The new budget draft, which takes into account Japan’s aging population, will see social security expenditures hit their highest level yet. The government of Prime Minister Kishida Fumio, which will allocate 36.9 trillion yen ($270 billion) to social security spending and 6.8 trillion yen ($49.8 billion) to national defense spending, reportedly plans to issue 35.6 trillion yen ($261 billion) in government bonds for its fiscal year budget. Japanese state broadcaster NHK noted that the draft fiscal year budget exceeded 110 trillion yen for the first time.