Japan's FY 2020 Budget Expected To Hit New Record

Japan's initial budget for fiscal 2020 is expected to hit a new record high with increasing social security and defense costs, local media reported Monday

TOKYO, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 9th Dec, 2019 ) :Japan's initial budget for fiscal 2020 is expected to hit a new record high with increasing social security and defense costs, local media reported Monday.

The initial general account budget for the fiscal year 2019 ending March stood at 101.46 trillion Yen (933.4 billion U.S. Dollars), according to government officials.

The budget for the next fiscal year is expected to increase as the government will earmark funds to implement free preschool education program extension as well as a rebate program for cashless purchases which is aimed at boosting consumer spending following the consumption tax hike in October.

The government will need around 800 billion yen (7.4 billion dollars) for the free preschool education program to be extended by six months, compared with 388.2 billion yen (3.6 billion dollars) allocated for half a year in fiscal 2019 for the project.

The government may increase the amount of deficit-covering bonds with tax revenue unlikely to rise as expected, according to local media reports.

In the meantime, the Japanese Finance Ministry is seeking to curb the expected increase in spending due to mounting criticism from opposition parties.