The cabinet approved fiscal 2014 budget of record-breaking 95.88 trillion yen, increasing 3.5% from a year earlier. The spending for public works increases 12.9% to 5.96 trillion yen, showing the two year consecutive rise. It focuses on acceleration of countermeasures against infrastructure deterioration, strengthening prior disaster prevention for huge disasters such as the Nankai Trough Earthquake, development of logistics network for economic revitalization. 5.16 billion yen out of the total budget, up 2.4% from the previous year, is distributed to Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. Three pillars of the budget are rehabilitation of the 2011 East Japan disaster, establishment of security and safety, and revitalization of economy and local communities.

As for one of the top three priorities, rehabilitation of disaster affected areas, 1155.4 billion yen will be spent on reconstruction of infrastructure such as roads, rivers, and ports. For the safety and security of the society, expenditures for earthquake resisting and strengthening works of public facilities are to be 105.5 billion yen, while 319.9 billion yen is appropriated for strategic promotion of infrastructure maintenance. In terms of revitalization of economy and local communities, 13.6 billion yen will be spent to strengthen aviation facilities in the Metropolitan area, and 72 billion yen for construction of the Bullet Train, while 168.1 billion yen allocated for logistics network development including the Ring Roads in the three largest urban regions and access routes to airports and seaports.

The budget proposal was designed in line with MLIT’s policy that it will secure the stable and continuous public works expenditures to implement infrastructure development deliberately. (2013/12/25)