Japan eyes extra budget of more than US$18b

[TOKYO] Japan's government and ruling coalition are putting the final touches to an extra budget of 2 trillion to 2.5 trillion yen (S$24.1 billion to S$30.1 billion) for the current fiscal year to March 2018, Kyodo news agency said on Tuesday.

The government and the coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and the Komeito Party are considering issuing 700 billion yen in construction bonds to help finance the budget, it said, without citing sources.

Following October's big election win, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's cabinet has made plans to beef up childcare support, boost productivity at small and medium-sized companies, and strengthen competitiveness of the farm, fishery and forestry industries.

Kyodo said a surplus from the previous fiscal year's budget would also be used to finance the extra budget, but no issuance of deficit-covering bonds was planned.

REUTERS