TOKYO, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- Japan's lower house of parliament on Tuesday approved a record 107.60 trillion yen (936.78 billion U.S. dollars) draft budget for fiscal 2022, amid rapidly growing social security costs and defense spending, with the budget to be enacted before April 1.
For the 10th year in a row, the general-account budget will be a record high, rising from the initial 106.61 trillion yen (928.15 billion U.S. dollars) for fiscal 2021.
The budget will be deliberated following its passage by the upper house of parliament and will, as per the Constitution, be automatically enacted 30 days after it is sent to the upper chamber.
In addition to the ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its junior partner Komeito that controls both houses of parliament, the opposition Democratic Party for the People also backed the draft budget, in a move rarely seen.
Leader of the Democratic Party for the People, Yuichiro Tamaki, said Monday that his party had made the decision after the leader of the LDP, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, said he would consider reinstating a "trigger clause" to temporarily suspend the imposition of a gasoline tax provision so as to stop oil prices surging.
The provision cuts gasoline taxes by 25 yen per liter when Japan's average regular retail gasoline price remains above 160 yen per liter for three months in a row.
After the massive earthquake and tsunami in March 2011, to secure sufficient financial resources, the imposition of a gasoline tax provision at the time was frozen.
As for Japan's ever-ballooning social security costs, under the next year's fiscal year's initial budget, the amount will hit 36.27 trillion yen (315.76 billion U.S. dollars).
This marks a 440 billion yen rise from the previous year and accounts for more than 30 percent of total national expenditure.
Japan's spending on defense, meanwhile, will hit a record high for the eighth successive year at 5.40 trillion yen (47.01 billion U.S. dollars) as it ramps up its technology and capabilities in cyberspace and outer space.
The initial budget also includes 5 trillion yen (43.52 billion U.S. dollars) in reserve funds for responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in the future, with the amount equivalent to that earmarked for the current fiscal year.
New bond issuance of 36.93 trillion yen (321.50 billion U.S. dollars) is less than 43.60 trillion yen issued in the fiscal 2021 initial budget.
The Japanese government, however, remains completely reliant on borrowing to finance its new budget, much as it continues to erode the nation's fiscal health, which is the worst among industrialized nations.
Debt-servicing costs of 24.34 trillion yen (211.92 billion U.S. dollars) are included in the upcoming budget, increasing from 23.76 trillion yen a year earlier. ■
