The package also includes ¥1.7 trillion to strengthen defense and diplomatic capabilities, with ¥1.1 trillion allocated to help raise defense spending to 2% of gross domestic product this fiscal year after Takaichi moved the targeted timeline forward by two years. Another ¥7.2 trillion will be allocated for investment related to crisis management.
Takaichi earmarked ¥700 billion in reserve funds to address damage caused by natural disasters and incidents caused by bears.
Public support for Takaichi’s cabinet so far remains strong, according to local polls. An ANN survey conducted last weekend showed her approval rate rising 8.8 points to 67.5%, with a majority of respondents expressing hopes over her economic package.
Bond issuance will likely exceed last year’s levels, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Concerns over rising debt pushed yields on 5- and 10-year government bonds to their highest since 2008 earlier this week, while longer-dated yields climbed further. The yen weakened past 157 per dollar, its softest since January, prompting verbal warnings from senior officials.
“It is clear that Japan will face higher spending pressure on social security, interest payment and national defense for some time,” said Rain Yin, sovereign analyst at S&P Global Ratings. “However, our sovereign rating on Japan has already factored in Japan’s longstanding weakness in the fiscal balance and its extremely high government debt burden. This assessment is unlikely to worsen substantially from further weakening at the margin.”
Takaichi said that she expects total new bond issuance for this fiscal year to remain below last year’s level of ¥42.1 trillion. With the initial annual budget, Japan was set to issue an amount that was about 20% less than last year.
“We’ve given ample consideration to fiscal sustainability as well,” said Takaichi.
The government estimates that the package will lift the nation’s GDP by an average of about 1.4 percentage points per year on an annualized basis for three years assuming the measures take effect during that span, the government said. The economy posted its first contraction in six quarters in the July–September period partly due to the US tariff impact.
On that note, the economic package pledges to strengthen the financial foundations of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation and Nippon Export and Investment Insurance to ensure the implementation of a $550 billion investment fund that was a key part of Japan-US tariff agreement.
It also says it will explore new funding sources to invest in sectors critical to economic security, such as shipbuilding, quantum technology and critical minerals.
