The government of Japan presented the largest budget in the country’s history, which includes record spending on defense to confront the growing security threats in the region.
The cabinet of ministers approved the draft national budget of 107.6 trillion yen (about US$940 billion) for fiscal year 2022-23, which includes 5.4 trillion yen of defense spending.
Both numbers have risen steadily for a decade, keeping pace with rising costs to serve an aging population and the quest to improve the country’s military capabilities.
And even though Japan never imposed a strict lockdown due to the covid-19 pandemic, months of restrictions on nightlife and tourism have taken their toll, prompting Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to dump billions of dollars to stimulate the economy.
As for the Defense area, the ministry of that sector said that the security situation in the region has become “much more serious at an unprecedented speed”, with China and North Korea as threats.
This budget increase comes as some economists warn of the risks of further inflating Japan’s huge public debt, which exceeds 250% of GDP according to the International Monetary Fund.
Source: Gestion
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