TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s Ministry of Finance is set to seek about $275 billion in debt servicing for the fiscal year from next April, up for a fourth consecutive year on a budget-request basis, a ministry draft reviewed by Reuters showed.
The budget request for debt redemption and interest payments would total 30.2362 trillion yen, marking a 27.3% increase from the current fiscal year ending in March, according to the draft, which was confirmed by two sources with direct knowledge of the matter.
It would exceed 30 trillion yen on initial budget basis for the first time, highlighting a struggle for the heavily indebted government to finance growing debt that is more than twice the size of Japan’s $4.9 trillion economy.
($1 = 109.7700 yen)
(Reporting by Takaya Yamaguchi; Writing by Daniel Leussink; Editing by Kim Coghill)
