Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (C) and others bow after the ruling party's amendment to the fiscal 2025 budget bill is passed by the lower house of parliament in Tokyo on March 4, 2025. Japan's government finally secured lower house approval for its record 2025 budget on March 4 after being forced to present revised plans for the first time in almost 30 years. [Photo/Agencies]
The Japanese government's initial budget for fiscal 2025 was approved on Tuesday by a majority vote in the House of Representatives, with support from the Liberal Democratic Party, Komeito, and the Japan Innovation Party, following revisions.
The proposed budget's general account stands at 115.2 trillion yen ($773.5 billion), the largest on record, even after a reduction of 343.7 billion yen from the initial amount.
To secure the Japan Innovation Party's approval, the ruling coalition incorporated its demands into the budget, which marks the first revision of an initial budget bill in 29 years, according to The Asahi Shimbun, a Japanese daily newspaper.
For Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's minority government, securing progress on the budget — widely seen as the biggest challenge in the first half of the Diet session — represents a significant step forward.
As in the previous extraordinary Diet session, the ruling coalition lacked the numbers to pass the budget on its own, making opposition cooperation crucial. In response, the coalition negotiated with the Japan Innovation Party, which advocates for free high school education, and revised the budget in line with its demands.
This marks the first time the Japan Innovation Party has supported an initial government budget proposal since entering national politics in 2012, The Asahi Shimbun reported.
The bill will be sent to the Upper House for a vote, but since the coalition holds a majority there, the budget is expected to be enacted easily, The Asahi Shimbun reported.
However, upcoming Diet debates on corporate and organizational political donations, as well as the introduction of optional separate surnames for married couples, are expected to stir further discussions.
The revised budget includes key changes such as eliminating the income cap for families receiving education subsidies of up to 118,800 yen per year for public and private high schools starting in fiscal 2025. Additionally, the coalition agreed to increase the minimum taxable annual income threshold from 1.03 million yen to 1.6 million yen.
Meanwhile, the main opposition parties, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and the Democratic Party for the People, voted against the budget after negotiations with the ruling coalition collapsed over proposed revisions to the high-cost medical expense benefit system and an increase in the income tax exemption threshold to 1.78 million yen.
jiangxueqing@chinadaily.com.cn
