Vote on Japan’s Fiscal 2025 Draft Budget to Take Place Monday; Bill Expected to Pass in Lower House Vote

The Yomiuri Shimbun

18:18 JST, March 28, 2025

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan agreed on Friday to vote on the fiscal 2025 draft budget on Monday.

Voting is expected to be held at the House of Councillors budget committee and the plenary session of the upper house.

The draft budget, which is currently being discussed by the committee, is expected to be approved by a majority of the ruling and other parties at a plenary session of the House of Representatives on Monday and be passed within this fiscal year.

Both parties’ upper house chairpersons and upper house diet affairs committee chairpersons attended the meeting on Friday.

The government and ruling parties initially planned to vote on the draft budget in the upper house on Friday, but the CDPJ and other opposition parties demanded more time to discuss the bill.

The draft budget has to be revised again in the upper house before being sent to the lower house to be approved by the majority, following a withdraw of reforms regarding the ” high-cost medical expense benefit system.“