Japan Govt OKs 2.7-T.-Yen Extra Budget for FY 2018

December 21, 2018

Tokyo--The Japanese government adopted at a cabinet meeting on Friday a draft second supplementary budget for fiscal 2018 worth 2,709.7 billion yen.

The total is smaller than the planned additional expenditures at 3,035.1 billion yen, as the difference will be covered by unspent budget funds for the fiscal year ending in March next year, including debt-servicing costs that turned out smaller than expected thanks to low interest rates in the country.

In response to a series of natural disasters that hit Japan since summer, the government adopted a set of emergency measures, including those to make airports, power plants and other important facilities disaster-resistant, which will be financed by over 3 trillion yen in state funds in the next three years.

Of the total, the government will spend 1,072.3 billion yen under the extra budget mainly for implementing flood- and mudslide-control measures, as well as for reinforcing school buildings against earthquakes.

A total of 325.6 billion yen will be earmarked for steps to help the domestic agriculture sector compete better against imported products after the Dec. 30 effectuation of the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement among Japan and 10 other nations.

The government will spend 206.8 billion yen for supporting small companies.

It will also set aside 1,430.4 billion yen for financing measures to tackle urgent tasks, such as the promotion of innovative studies.

The government plans to issue so-called construction bonds worth 1,308.2 billion yen to finance public works projects.

Meanwhile, it will secure about one trillion yen in extra budget resources, partly thanks to tax revenue growth backed by an economic recovery.

In autumn, the government drew up the first supplementary budget for fiscal 2018 totaling some 940 billion yen, chiefly to finance reconstruction projects after a strong earthquake in northern Osaka in June, torrential rains in western regions in July, a violent typhoon that forced the Kansai airport to close temporarily due to flooding in September and a powerful temblor in the northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido in the same month. Jiji Press