Japan passes temporary budget bill to keep the government running

According to Japanese media reports, the Japanese Diet passed a stopgap budget bill on the 30th to keep the government running normally. This is the first time Japan has passed a stopgap budget since 2015. The stopgap budget is intended to sustain the day-to-day operations of the Japanese government from April 1 to April 11, with a total amount of about 85.6 trillion yen (about 160 yen per US dollar). It covers only the minimum required spending, as costs related to price increases triggered by the escalation of fighting in the Middle East and energy countermeasures were not included. The Japanese Cabinet approved the stopgap budget on March 27 and submitted it for deliberation in the Diet.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takachiwa abruptly announced the dissolution of the House of Representatives and called an early election in January this year, forcing the schedule for deliberations on the budget for fiscal year 2026 (from April 1, 2026, to March 31, 2027) by both chambers of the Diet to be delayed by about one month. The new fiscal year budget was passed in the House of Representatives on March 13, but its deliberation process in the House of Councillors is still ongoing. Under Japan’s Constitution, a new fiscal year budget bill approved by the House of Representatives in a full chamber session automatically takes effect 30 days after it is delivered to the House of Councillors, without needing deliberation by the House of Councillors. Therefore, the new fiscal year budget will take effect on April 11.

During the House of Representatives’ deliberations of the new fiscal year budget bill, the Liberal Democratic Party’s approach of compressing the deliberation timeline based on its seat advantage and strongly pushing the review process drew widespread criticism. In a commentary article, Kyodo News pointed out that the rare stopgap budget serves as a warning sign regarding the Prime Minister’s “centralized” style of governance. Analysts said that until March 27, with less than a week remaining before the start of the new fiscal year, the Japanese government only then stated that it had no choice but to draft a stopgap budget, reflecting the possibility that Takachiwa may have been overly complacent or made a misjudgment. (Xinhua News Agency)