Japan weighs a modest second extra budget focused on disaster relief

Japan is set to compile a second extra budget for one outlet fiscal year, aimed primarily at financing disaster-relief projects such as rebuilding areas affected by earthquakes and heavy rainfall. The draft will be prepared in November and is intended to pass in the ordinary session of parliament that begins early next year. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s administration has pledged to discontinue the practice of large, one-off budgets, seeking instead to consolidate essential expenditures within the main annual budget.

Nevertheless, the government acknowledges the need for a modest, targeted fund for emergency reconstruction. The move comes after a ¥3 trillion extra budget was approved in June to provide gasoline subsidies amid higher living costs tied to the Middle East conflict. No comment was immediately available from the prime minister’s office.