Ishiba to Vow More Spending on National Resilience

Tokyo, Jan. 22 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba will this week announce a plan to spend more than 15 trillion yen, starting in fiscal 2026, to make the country more resilient to natural disasters, government officials said Wednesday.

In a parliamentary policy speech set for Friday, Ishiba will say that the government will release an update to the current 15-trillion-yen national resiliency program possibly in June, the officials said.

He will also seek to promote a system for mutual support among local governments and the stockpiling of relief supplies in preparation for possible large-scale natural disasters, while expressing his intention to improve disaster prediction.

Ishiba will say that this year’s economic and fiscal policy guidelines will outline how to improve the government’s finances.

The government effectively abandoned its goal of achieving a primary budget surplus in fiscal 2025, which starts in April. In his speech, Ishiba will pledge to continue fiscal reform efforts.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]