Sanae Takaichi has presented a supplementary budget of $19 billion. She pledged that no additional borrowing would be used to fund it.
The announcement came on May 25. It represents a shift from Takaichi's earlier statements that ruled out the need for extra spending.
The supplementary budget is intended to address economic needs without increasing bond issuance.
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The Japanese government approved an 8.56 trillion yen stopgap budget on March 27 to fund operations for the first 11 days of fiscal 2026 starting April 1, due to stalled upper house deliberations on the main 122.31 trillion yen budget passed by the lower house earlier this month. This is the first such provisional measure in 11 years, backed by ruling and main opposition parties, and expected to pass parliament on March 30.
The government plans to submit a draft extra budget exceeding 3 trillion yen on June 3 to bolster reserves amid Middle East tensions.
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Japan's House of Representatives passed the fiscal 2026 budget proposal on March 14, supported by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and Japan Innovation Party's majority, sending it to the House of Councillors. The budget totals a record 122.3 trillion yen, drawing criticism from opposition parties over the short deliberation time. The ruling coalition aims for passage by the fiscal year-end despite uncertainties in the upper house.
Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said Friday that Japan's initial budget for defense spending and related costs in fiscal 2026 totals about 10.6 trillion yen ($66.5 billion), roughly 1.9 percent of its 2022 gross domestic product or around 1.5 percent using projected fiscal 2026 GDP. Japan aims to raise spending to 2 percent of GDP by fiscal 2027.
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Japan's largest companies raised capital spending in the final quarter of last year, signaling stronger corporate sentiment. The Finance Ministry reported a 4% rise in spending on goods excluding software compared to the previous quarter. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is pushing for more investment in strategic sectors.