Japan to Set FY 2024 General-Account Spending at Some 112 T. Yen

Jiji Press

10:45 JST, December 21, 2023

Tokyo (Jiji Press)—The Japanese government is in the final stages of coordination to set the amount of general-account spending under its fiscal 2024 budget at around ¥112,070 billion, informed sources said Wednesday.

The planned amount is down from the record high of ¥114,381.2 billion, set in fiscal 2023, marking the first decrease in 12 years.

Still, the annual amount is seen topping ¥110 trillion for the second straight year, as debt-serving costs are expected to hit a new record high and social security and defense outlays are also set to rise.

For calculating the cost of paying interest on government debt, the government will raise its assumed interest rate for the first time in 17 years, reflecting an upward trend in long-term government bond yields following the Bank of Japan’s policy adjustments.