Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's cabinet Thursday approved a record 96.7-trillion-yen (799-billion- US dollar) budget for the next financial year, with social security expenses and defence spending growing to record levels, dpa reported. The government will allocate 31.97 trillion yen for social security expenses in the year starting April, up 1.4 per cent from fiscal 2015, to expand childcare and nursing care services to tackle a rapidly ageing society. Defence expenses will rise 1.5 per cent to 5.05 trillion yen for the fourth consecutive year of increase. Abe's hawkish government wants to beef up defence capabilities to better protect its remote south-western islands amid concerns about China's increasing assertiveness in regional waters. The country's tax revenue is expected to rise to a 25-year high of 57.6 trillion yen, based on a government projection pointing to a real gross domestic product increase of 1.7 per cent. Abe's government plans to submit the draft budget for fiscal 2016 to parliament on January 4 and seek its enactment by the end of March. -- SPA 11:27 LOCAL TIME 08:27 GMT تغريد
