By TAKAO SHINKAI/ Staff Writer
December 16, 2025 at 18:21 JST
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks at the Upper House Budget Committee on Dec. 16. (Takeshi Iwashita)
The Upper House on Dec. 16 passed the supplementary budget bill for fiscal 2025, the first compiled by the Sanae Takaichi administration, which advocates a “responsible, active fiscal policy.”
Expenditures in the general account total 18.3 trillion yen ($118.2 billion), surpassing the 13.9 trillion yen in the extra budget for fiscal 2024.
An increase in tax revenue will cover a portion of funding for the budget, while 11.6 trillion yen in newly issued government bonds will provide the remainder.
The supplementary budget, which was passed by the Lower House on Dec. 11, serves as the basis for a comprehensive economic package aimed largely at helping the public deal with inflation.
Around 8.9 trillion yen has been allocated to respond to high prices, including 500 billion yen in subsidies for electricity and gas bills from January to March next year.
In addition, 400 billion yen will be used to provide families with a 20,000-yen handout per child, while 2 trillion yen will go toward focused support local grants, including 400 billion yen for measures against soaring food prices.
The extra budget also contains 6.4 trillion yen for crisis management and growth investment, 1.6 trillion yen to strengthen defense and diplomatic capabilities, and 700 billion yen in reserve funds.
The expansion of the supplementary budget’s scale has heightened concerns about worsening public finances, and in financial markets, long-term interest rates are on an upward trend.
As the year-end approaches, the government is moving into full swing to compile the initial budget for next fiscal year. Its contents and scale are gathering attention from financial markets.
“In compiling next fiscal year’s budget as well, we will widen the pie of the Japanese economy,” Takaichi said. “We will work to ensure that the benefits of wage increases that exceed high prices reach as many people as possible.”
She also said she will gain the confidence of market players.
Takaichi Cabinet approves largest post-pandemic stimulus plan
November 21, 2025
Extra budget to push defense spending beyond 2% of GDP
November 29, 2025
BOA: 40% of oversized supplementary budget left over
December 16, 2024
Japan plans 13.9 trillion yen spending in new stimulus package, document shows
November 22, 2024
3.5-trillion-yen package adopted to deal with surging prices
September 10, 2022
Budget for fiscal 2023 likely to expand to record 114 trillion yen
December 19, 2022
A peek through the music industry’s curtain at the producers who harnessed social media to help their idols go global.
A series based on diplomatic documents declassified by Japan’s Foreign Ministry
Here is a collection of first-hand accounts by “hibakusha” atomic bomb survivors.
Cooking experts, chefs and others involved in the field of food introduce their special recipes intertwined with their paths in life.
A series about Japanese-Americans and their memories of World War II
