Japan Cabinet endorses budget, hiking defence spending
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TOKYO (AP) - Japan's Cabinet endorsed on Tuesday a record-high 92.6 trillion yen (S$1.3 trillion) general budget for the coming fiscal year aimed at buoying growth through more public works spending while raising defence outlays to counter tensions with China.
The 4.75 trillion yen in proposed defence spending, up 0.8 per cent from last year, is the first such increase in 11 years and is partly aimed at beefing up Japan's coastal and marine surveillance around islands also claimed by China and Taiwan.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has pledged to do whatever it takes to get the economy out of recession and restore sustainable growth, through both strong stimulus spending and monetary easing.
Including a supplementary budget to help cover costs through March 31, the government has set its spending plans through March 2014, said Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters.
