Editorial

15:00 JST, April 1, 2025

The fiscal 2025 budget just managed to be enacted within fiscal 2024, but all that stood out was the political maneuvering between the ruling and opposition parties with this summer’s House of Councillors election in mind.

It can hardly be said that the effects of the budget’s policies and the measures to secure fiscal resources were sufficiently discussed, and the first half of the current Diet session was far from “deliberative.”

The budget for the new fiscal year, with the general account totaling a record high ¥115 trillion, took an extraordinary path to its establishment.

During discussions at the House of Representatives, opposition party demands were reflected in the budget, including a review of the “annual income barrier,” the income threshold for the imposition of income tax, and the introduction of free high school tuition. This was the first time in 29 years that a budget had been revised in the House of Representatives.

In........

© The Japan News