Japan's Finance Minister Taro Aso said Friday the government will draft an extra budget of 3.5 trillion yen (28.7 billion U.S. dollars) for fiscal 2015 through March to underpin the economy and make necessary welfare provisions, help farmers and ensure enough financing for disaster and relief efforts.
The government expected to have the extra budget enacted during a parliamentary session on Jan. 4 after it was approved by the Cabinet on Dec. 18. The plan, which has been announced to the Cabinet for approval, has been crafted to bring some of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's own economic-based policies to fruition.
Such key policies include introducing enhanced mechanisms to encourage more couples to have children and support the raising of the children while encouraging mothers to return to work, as well as encouraging staff to continue working in nursing care-related jobs, an essential sector that will further have to deal with the care of Japan's rapidly aging society, among other policies.
The supplementary budget, officials said, may actually be slightly lower than the initial budget compiled, at 3.3 trillion yen, as interest payments are almost certainly likely to be lower than previously anticipated, officials said.
Aso told a news gathering Thursday that the government intended to forge ahead with its target of significantly reducing the primary balance deficit, which refers to the amount by which the government's total expenditure exceeds its total revenue, excluding interest payments on its debt. Japan's public debt continues to swell and currently stands at the highest in the industrialized world at more than double the size of its economy.
"We will stick with our goal of halving the ratio of the primary balance deficit to gross domestic product this fiscal year from the fiscal 2010 level," Aso said. Allocations from the budget include 1.2 trillion yen for bolstering social security-related measures, of which 400 million will be specifically earmarked to support child-rearing and nursing care related employment initiatives.
Japanese farmers will be supported by an allocation of some 300 billion yen to offset potential losses associated with the upcoming deregulation of the sensitive industry, following the recent inking of the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement.
With finances also being earmarked used for counterterrorism measures, following the government's launch recently of its own multi-faceted, intergovernmental counterterrorism unit as Japan will be hosting a number of high profile international events over the next five years, including the G7 summit next year and the Olympic Games in 2020, Aso also said around 500 billion yen will be allocated for disaster and relief measures.
Around 800 billion yen, meanwhile, will go to efforts to speed up reconstruction efforts still ongoing more than four years after a massive earthquake-triggered tsunami pummeled Japan's eastern seaboard.
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