Japan’s government finally secured lower house approval for its record 2025 budget on Tuesday after being forced to present revised plans for the first time in almost 30 years.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has headed a minority coalition since leading his conservative Liberal Democratic Party to its worst election result in 15 years in October.
This has put the LDP, which has governed Japan almost continuously since 1955, and its junior coalition partner Komeito, needing opposition support to pass legislation.
The budget for the fiscal year starting April 1 is worth a record 115.2 trillion yen ($771.5 billion), as Japan expands welfare spending for its growing elderly population as well as outgoings for defence.
The LDP initially sought support from the opposition Democratic Party for the People, but baulked at the smaller party’s demands for a deep, permanent tax cut in exchange for its votes.
Ishiba, 68, approached and secured approval from the Japan Innovation Party, which wanted free high school education, and on Friday presented a revised draft budget, a first since 1996.
Spending was trimmed by some 340 billion yen from the original proposal, with the government reducing new bond issuances to keep Japan’s enormous debt mountain in check, Kyodo News reported.
The bill still needs to clear the upper house, where the LDP-led coalition has a majority.
