Tax & Spend
Japan Plans Record Budget With Ramped-Up Defense Spending
- Ishiba’s initial budget to reach $735 billion, draft shows
- Record tax revenues help cut new bond issuance by a fifth
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s cabinet is expected to approve a record initial budget Friday for the next fiscal year that will ramp up spending on defense and support for local economies.
The budget for the year starting in April 2025 will total around ¥115.5 trillion ($735 billion), according to a draft of the plan obtained by Bloomberg on Wednesday.