adminTOKYO — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s cabinet approved yesterday a $53 billion extra budget for the current fiscal year to fund stimulus steps announced last week aimed at offsetting the blow from a planned increase in the national sales tax.
The size of the supplementary budget comes to 5,46 trillion yen ($53,3 billion), following a 13,1 trillion yen extra budget compiled in January to stimulate the economy, according to the Ministry of Finance.
The latest budget will bring government spending for fiscal 2013/14, which ends in March, to about 98,1 trillion yen.
That compares with 100,5 trillion yen earmarked the year before, suggesting that Japan’s spending remains expansionary. It underlines the need for Abe to strike a balance between boosting near-term growth and reining in a huge public debt.
The focus will now shift to a draft annual budget for the next fiscal year from April, to be compiled later this month. — AFP
derick.khumalo