Japan to Boost Defense Spending
2 Min Read
Breaking a several-decade informal guideline of having the defense budget equaling 1% of GDP, Japan hikes its defense spending to put it at 1.14% of last fiscal year's GDP.
-
Japanese army personnel conduct an amphibious drill with the US marines in February 2020 in Okinawa, Japan (Credit: Kyodo)
The Japanese Defense Ministry said Friday it was seeking $6.7 billion in additional spending this financial year to accelerate purchases of military equipment, a record in Japan's history, arguing it was due to the "increasingly severe" regional security environment.
The Ministry cited the "challenges" posed by China and North Korea and said the regional security situation was becoming "increasingly severe at an unprecedented speed."
This record figure increases Tokyo's military budget to a whopping 1.14% of last fiscal year's GDP, knowing that in the past few decades, Japan's defense budget never exceeded 1% of the GDP.
Tokyo's military budget has been at a steady incline over the majority of the past decade, and the Ministry has already requested for the next fiscal year to have a budget of $50 billion, maintaining record spending.
The hike in the budget would be used to cover the costs of missiles, patrol aircraft, helicopters, and personnel, the Defense Ministry announced. Some of the equipment was budgeted for purchase in next year's spending.
Tokyo argued that regional challenges pushed it to speed up the enhancement of missile capability and other defense capabilities needed for "protecting islands in the south-western region," according to the ministry.
The Japanese ruling conservative party had set a long-term policy of expanding the defense budget to reach over 2% of the island nation's GDP in a bid to become up to par with NATO members.
