Japan's Lower House Okays Record $938B Budget For 2022

Japan's lower house approved Tuesday a record 107.60 trillion yen ($938 billion) draft budget for fiscal 2022 swollen by growing social security and national defense costs, setting the stage for its enactment before the year starts on April 1, Kyodo News reported.

Photo Insert: The Lower House of Japan

It is the second-fastest passage of an initial budget by the House of Representatives under Japan's postwar Constitution after the Feb. 19 passage of the fiscal 1999 budget. The general-account budget will be a record high for the 10th year in a row, up from the initial 106.61 trillion yen for fiscal 2021.

Following the passage, the budget will be deliberated by the House of Councilors. The Constitution stipulates the automatic enactment of a budget 30 days after it is sent to the upper house.

In a rare move, the opposition Democratic Party for the People backed the draft budget, in addition to the ruling coalition of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's Liberal Democratic Party and its junior partner Komeito that controls both houses of parliament, Mainichi Japan also reported.

Yuichiro Tamaki, leader of the Democratic Party for the People, told reporters Monday that his party had made the decision after Kishida said he would consider reinstating a "trigger clause" to temporarily suspend the imposition of a gasoline tax provision as a measure to curb surging oil prices.

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. It was frozen after the massive earthquake and tsunami in March 2011 to secure sufficient fiscal resources.

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