Robert Besser
07 Dec 2022, 10:37 GMT+10
TOKYO, Japan: Beginning in April, Japan will allocate 40 trillion to 43 trillion yen ($295 billion-$318 billion) over five years for defense spending.
The plans is 27.5 trillion yen more than the current five-year defense plan, causing concerns about one of the worst debt burdens in the developed world, amounting to twice the country's annual economic output.
In response to the increasing assertiveness of Beijing, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida instructed Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki and Defence Minister Yasukazu Hamada to draft a defense spending plan that will allocate 2 percent of GDP over five years, compared with the current 1 percent.
Suzuki and Hamada are expected to again meet with Kishida this month to agree on the spending plan's details.
"It will not be critical to spend some 40 trillion yen. The question is whether the government could secure funding sources and whether we can let the money flow through domestic defense and related industries to back the economy," said Takuya Hoshino, senior economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute, as quoted by Reuters.
"If we spend the money to buy weapons and other military goods overseas, that would trigger capital outflows and yen depreciation," he added.
Reuters reported that due to opposition from many lawmakers against tax increases, Japan is expected to delay the spending increase for at least one year, which would offer fewer options to secure funding for boosting military spending.
Get a daily dose of Israel Herald news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Israel Herald.
More InformationTOKYO, Japan: In light of a tense security environment following Russia's invasion of Ukraine and Moscow's growing military cooperation with ...
DALLAS, Texas: Oil and gas pipeline operators are preparing to stockpile equipment following severe weather forecasts for the next few ...
WASHINGTON D.C.: As US lawmakers investigate the Chinese-owned video-sharing app TikTok, its Chief Executive, Shou Zi Chew, has confirmed that ...
TEHRAN, Iran: A gunman this week stormed the Azerbaijan Embassy in the Iranian capital, Tehran, and killed its security chief ...
WASHINGTON, DC - FBI agents on Wednesday searched for classified documents at U.S. President Joe Biden's vacation retreat in the ...
WASHINGTON D.C.: The White House said this week that Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk met with John Podesta, a Democratic ...
TOKYO, Japan: Toyota has announced that it sold 10.5 million vehicles in 2022, maintaining its position as the world's top-selling ...
NEW YORK, New York - Technology stocks had a hay day Thursday with Facebook parent Meta rocketing up nearly 30 ...
FRANKFURT, Germany: Data released this week showed that the German economy unexpectedly shrank in the fourth quarter of 2022, indicating ...
TOKYO, Japan: In a statement posted on the website of the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo, Beijing announced that it will ...
NEW YORK, New York - The U.S. dollar crumbled on Thursday after first posting gains. The late afternoon sell off ...
NEW YORK, New York - Wall Street dove into the red Wednesday after the U.S. Federal Reserve Open Market Committee ...