Budget for Mobilization

Shinzo Abe Cabinet decided the FY 2016 budget bill on Thursday. Total amount of general account was ¥96.7 trillion, marking the largest budget for consecutive years. To implement his new political agenda, A Hundred Million Dynamic Engagement, Abe positively appropriated fiscal resources to nursery or local development. He did not forget supporting national security and overseas development aid. While relying on income of corporate tax, accumulated debt is still threatening the future of the nation.

Mobilization must be one of the most favorite words of Abe. He tried to mobilize all private corporations to implement his economic policy called Abenomics through raising salary of their employees, resulting in managers’ ignorance of governmental intervention. Now, he proceeded to the way for encouraging all citizens to contribute to his agenda through engagement in social activities for productive economy. This is the first annual budget for the target.

¥2.4 trillion was appropriated to A Hundred Million Dynamic Engagement. For implementing one of the new three arrows for growth, or 1.8 of hoping birthrate, ¥1.5 trillion was saved. The budget would be spent for increasing nursery facilities for kids of working mother. Subsidies for divorced family would be raised for the first time in these twenty-two years. To decrease job losses caused by necessity for taking care of old parents, budget for nursery for elder people was raised to ¥236 billion.

To support budget of local communities, Abe administration would establish new subsidy for vitalizing local economy amounting ¥100 billion. The subsidy will be used for elderly people to move from urban zone to local towns, expanding market for local products or developing infrastructure for concentrating people and business. On the other hand, national government would start asking expenditure of devastated local government in East Japan Great Earthquake, amounting ¥8 billion.

Defense budget broke the ceiling of ¥5 trillion for the first time. Japanese Self-defense Force will add another cruiser with Aegis information system, which costs ¥173 billion. ¥23 billion will be appropriated for introducing new air tanker, KC46A. Those equipments will be designated for defense of small islands in Pacific Ocean against Chinese advance.

With active spending mostly for people’s ordinary life, pretending to be determined in raising economy, Abe focuses on the victory in the election for House of Councillors next summer. Newspapers found camouflages in the budget, which was highly dependent on temporary growth of tax revenue, such as great amount of purchase of national bonds by Bank of Japan.