While the government's fiscal 2026 budget bill calls for record-high spending on social security, its efforts to reduce the health insurance premium burden on the working generation are still limited. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/12/27/japan/society/burden-working-generation/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #society #health #sanaetakaichi #ldp #nipponishinnokai #budgets #debt #elderly #medicine
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said the nation’s primary balance is set to return to a surplus for the first time in 28 years, in an apparent attempt to ease market concerns over her proactive stance on spending. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2025/12/27/economy/primary-balance-surplus/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #business #economy #sanaetakaichi #ldp #budgets #debt #japaneseeconomy
Japan’s Cabinet has approved a defense budget request exceeding ¥9 trillion for the first time ever, including some ¥100 billion to build a drone “shield” to help defend the country’s southwestern periphery. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/12/26/japan/japan-defense-spending-record-high/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #defense #budgets #defenseministry #sdf #sanaetakaichi #shinjirokoizumi
Japan’s industry ministry is set to nearly quadruple its budgeted support for cutting-edge semiconductors and AI development to about ¥1.23 trillion for the next fiscal year. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2025/12/26/economy/ai-budget-support/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #business #economy #ai #japaneseeconomy #chipmakers #meti #cabinet #us #china #sanaetakaichi #tech #budgets
Japan’s military aid program is likely to expand from eight to at least 12 recipient countries in the next fiscal year after the Cabinet of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi approved a record budget for the framework. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/12/26/japan/japan-official-security-assistance/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #foreignministry #budgets #aid #defense #osa
Takaichi’s Cabinet is proposing record spending in the next fiscal year, including the issuing of ¥29.6 trillion of government bonds. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2025/12/26/economy/takaichi-2026-budget/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #business #economy #sanaetakaichi #budgets #debts
The government plans to scrap its target of turning the primary budget balance at the central and local governments into a surplus in a specific fiscal year. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2025/12/25/economy/japan-primary-surplus-goal/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #business #economy #japaneseeconomy #sanaetakaichi #budgets #debts
Japan's government revised up its economic forecast for the fiscal year to next March and projected that growth would accelerate in the following year, on the view that a massive stimulus package will boost expenditure. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2025/12/25/economy/japan-govt-economic-growth-projection/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #business #economy #japaneseeconomy #consumption #taxes #budgets #sanaetakaichi
The Finance Ministry will set a key rate used to calculate the country’s likely interest payments on bonds next fiscal year at 3.0%, the highest in nearly three decades. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2025/12/24/economy/interest-payments-on-bonds/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #business #economy #budgets #bonds #debt #financeministry #japaneseeconomy
Okinawa development funds to see first rise in 10 years https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/12/18/japan/japan-okinawa-development-funds/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #ldp #okinawa #budgets #yukoobuchi
The U.S. government said it has approved support for upgrading the MSDF's Aegis destroyers, with the estimated cost for the Japanese government being $100.2 million. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/12/17/japan/us-aid-japan-aegis-destroyers/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #usjapanrelations #us #defense #aegis #budgets #sdf
Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama is calling on both ruling and opposition parties to work together to enact the government’s supplementary budget swiftly to “bring back a strong economy to Japan.” https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2025/12/08/economy/japan-finance-minister-parliament-budget-speech/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #business #economy #satsukikatayama #budgets #diet #japaneseeconomy #sanaetakaichi
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s administration has submitted its draft ¥18.3 trillion ($118 billion) supplementary budget for fiscal 2025 to parliament to finance her first comprehensive economic package. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2025/12/08/economy/japan-extra-budget/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #business #economy #budgets #japaneseeconomy #sanaetakaichi #diet
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has warned that “free-riding” allies will “face consequences” if they fail to ramp up defense spending and assume more responsibilities for defending their regions. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/12/07/japan/hegseth-allies-japan-defense/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #us #usjapanrelations #defense #budgets #china #taiwan #petehegseth #pla
Japan must spend “far more” on defense and assume greater responsibility in Asia, the White House said in a new National Security Strategy that also lays out a vague plan for a “burden-sharing network.” https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/12/06/japan/politics/japan-us-national-security-strategy/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #politics #us #china #usjapanrelations #uschinarelations #taiwan #pla #defense #budgets #donaldtrump #sanaetakaichi
Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi is planning to visit the United States next month to hold talks with his U.S. counterpart, Pete Hegseth, government officials have said. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/12/06/japan/politics/koizumi-us-visit-january/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #politics #shinjirokoizumi #defense #defenseministry #budgets #us #usjapanrelations #petehegseth
A spokesperson at the International Monetary Fund on Thursday commended Japan's draft supplementary budget for fiscal 2025. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2025/12/05/imf-welcomes-extra-budget/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #business #imf #budgets
Japan on Tuesday held the first ministerial meeting to review tax measures, subsidies and funds, in an effort inspired by the "department of government efficiency" (DOGE) in the United States. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/12/02/japan/politics/doge-ministerial-meeting/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #politics #doge #sanaetakaichi #donaldtrump #us #taxes #satsukikatayama #financeministry #budgets
Japan plans to increase its issuance of short-term debt to help finance Sanae Takaichi’s economic package, a move that comes as markets grow uneasy about fiscal discipline and upward pressure on super-long yields. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2025/11/28/economy/extra-budget-bond-issues/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #business #economy #japaneseeconomy #budgets #bonds #sanaetakaichi #financeministry
Japan's parliament enacted legislation to scrap the provisional tax surcharges for gasoline and diesel fuel to try to curb inflation, without stating alternative sources for government funding. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/11/28/japan/politics/gasoline-bill-pass/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #politics #gas #taxes #energy #inflation #diet #budgets