Japan’s FY26 Budget Proposal Passes Diet, with Record High ¥122.3 Trillion in General Account

The Yomiuri Shimbun

18:12 JST, April 7, 2026

The fiscal 2026 budget proposal passed the Diet on Tuesday evening when the House of Councillors approved it by a majority vote.

The House of Councillors Budget Committee had passed the budget proposal on the afternoon of the day.

Not counting Chairman Masahito Fujikawa of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, who did not participate in the vote, the number of ruling and opposition party members on the committee was equal, resulting in a tied vote.

Consequently, in accordance with the provisions of the Diet Law, Fujikawa then decided to approve the budget proposal at the committee.

The budget proposal was urgently submitted to the upper house plenary session later on the day.

The total amount of the general account in the budget is ¥122.3 trillion, the largest ever.

Deliberations on the budget proposal began in late February — about one month later than usual — due to the dissolution of the House of Representatives. The government and ruling coalition gave up on passing the proposal within the fiscal year and enacted a provisional budget on March 30 to serve as a “stopgap” until the budget is approved.