Japan enacts record budget for FY2021

NHK -- Mar 27

Lawmakers in Japan have rubber-stamped a record budget. It's worth more than 106 trillion yen, or about 1 trillion dollars, for the new fiscal year that starts on April 1st.

The Diet's Upper House approved the budget on Friday.

It includes spending to deal with the coronavirus pandemic, promote digital transformation, and work towards carbon neutrality.

One-third of the total, amounting to about 330 billion dollars, is for social security, as the country's population continues to age. That's about 1.4 billion more than the previous year.

Defense spending is also up with an allocation of 49 billion dollars.

The government expects tax revenues to shrink, due largely to lower corporate earnings.

State coffers are projected to bring in 525 billion dollars, which represents a significant dip.