Social Security Pushes 2021 Budget To Record High
Japan's government has submitted a record-high draft budget to the Diet. The package earmarks funds for ballooning social-security and other spending. It covers fiscal 2021 that starts in April.
This year's regular Diet session began on Monday.
The draft tops 106 trillion yen, or around one trillion dollars. That's 38 billion dollars more than the initial package for the current fiscal year.
A record 345 billion dollars is allocated for social security, as the country's population continues to age.
That amount is about 1.5 billion dollars more than in fiscal 2020.
51 billion dollars will go on defense. That's also the biggest ever, and is up by nearly 590 million dollars.
The government expects tax revenue to shrink during the next fiscal year despite the increased expenditures.
State coffers are projected to bring in 554 billion dollars. That's down about 58 billion dollars from before.
It's due largely to lower earnings by corporations struggling amid the pandemic.