Japan’s Kiuchi says record budget requests need broad comparison

The size of next year’s budget should be compared with the initial budget for this year and supplementary budgets for last year combined, Japan’s economic and fiscal policy minister said, in an apparent effort to prepare investors for record budget requests.

“Given Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s policy of moving away from reliance on supplementary budgets, I think it’s important to compare fiscal 2027 requests with the combined fiscal 2025 extra budget and the initial fiscal 2026 budget,” Growth Strategy Minister Minoru Kiuchi told reporters on Tuesday.

Kiuchi added that next year’s budget should properly reflect rising prices and wages “while strengthening the economy’s growth potential and supporting an expansion in its nominal size.”