Substantial deliberation at the House of Councilors Budget Committee from today

The new fiscal year's budget bill passed the House of Representatives on the 28th, and substantial deliberations will begin in the House of Councilors from the 1st.

It is expected that the ruling and opposition parties will continue to debate over measures to deal with the declining birthrate in response to the fact that the number of children born in one year has fallen below 800,000 for the first time, and the drastic strengthening of defense capabilities.

The new fiscal year's budget proposal, with a record total of over 114 trillion yen for the general account, was approved at the plenary session of the House of Representatives on the 28th with a majority of support from the ruling parties and others, and will be enacted by the end of the fiscal year in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution.

Regarding the budget deliberations at the House of Councillors, Prime Minister Kishida said, "We will continue to work together with a sense of urgency and try to provide detailed explanations."

On the other hand, opposition parties objected last year, including the Democratic Party for the People, who agreed to the fiscal 2020 budget, arguing that child-rearing support was insufficient.

Izumi, the representative of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, said, "It's a budget that doubles the anxiety of the people. We will insist on securing and increasing the budget for children and child-rearing."

At the House of Councilors on the 1st and 2nd, Prime Minister Kishida and all ministers will attend the Budget Committee, where basic questions will be asked and substantive deliberations will begin.

Among them, the number of children born last year fell below 800,000 for the first time to more than 799,000 according to preliminary figures, and discussions will be held on measures to deal with the declining birthrate in the future.

In addition, it is expected that the ruling and opposition parties will continue to debate over issues such as countermeasures against soaring prices and efforts to raise wages, an increase in defense spending to fundamentally strengthen defense capabilities, and how to exercise the "counterattack capability."