Japan's Cabinet Adopts Takaichi's First Fiscal Blueprint — A Break From "Excessive Austerity"

• ▸Japan's Cabinet formally adopted the Basic Policy on Economic and Fiscal Management and Reform 2026 on July 21, 2026 — the first such annual fiscal blueprint compiled under Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who took office in October 2025.
• ▸The policy commits to moving away from what Takaichi called "excessive fiscal austerity and underinvestment," while also directing a review of how the national budget itself is formulated, including a domestic push to reassess subsidies and tax breaks.
• ▸As a Cabinet-level policy statement rather than a budget itself, it sets the direction Japan's Ministry of Finance will follow when drafting the FY2027 budget later this year — concrete spending numbers are still to come.