Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry plans to seek 7.7 trillion yen in budget request for fiscal year 2027

In its initial budget request for fiscal 2027, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has decided to request approximately 7.7 trillion yen for areas related to AI (artificial intelligence), semiconductors, and energy. Of this amount, approximately 4.5 trillion yen has been earmarked for the new investment framework set out by the Takaichi administration. The estimated requested amount exceeds the total of the original budget for FY2011 and the supplementary budget for FY2011 by more than 2 trillion yen.

The Takaichi administration has said it will ``break away from relying on supplementary budgets'' and will, in principle, take necessary measures using the initial budget. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry's budget request is also in line with that policy. On the other hand, the latest budget request includes many ``item requests'' that do not specify specific amounts, and the final budget proposal is likely to expand further.

The Takaichi administration will also make ``crisis management investment and growth investment'' a signature policy, in which the public and private sectors will spend more than 370 trillion yen by fiscal 2040, and will create an ``Strong and Prosperous Japan'' investment framework in addition to regular spending.

Regarding this investment framework, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry...