The government has begun considering adopting a method of calculating its defense budget that would include budgets for coastal defense and other items, in an effort to make the defense budget equal to Japan's gross domestic product over the next five years. 2 percent, government sources said.
This calculation method is used by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which aims to make member states' defense-related spending at least 2 percent of GDP. To compare the defense efforts of member states, NATO defines items to be included in defense-related expenditures, such as costs related to the coast guard, UN peacekeeping operations and pensions for veterans, among others. None of these are currently included in Japan's defense spending.
According to sources, the Japanese government has decided that it is appropriate to adopt NATO standards regarding the 2 percent target.
Japan's defense budget is about ¥5.4 trillion in the initial budget for the current fiscal year, while the Coast Guard's budget is about ¥220 billion and the cost of veterans' pensions and survivor benefits is about ¥110 billion. If Japan were to include these and similar items while applying NATO standards, defense-related spending would be about ¥6.1 trillion, or 1.08% of GDP.
The government also plans to examine whether there are any items in the science and technology budget that can be counted as defense-related expenditure. The annual budget for science and technology is over $4 trillion, but only 4% goes to the Ministry of Defence, while more than 60% goes to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. taken The Government observes that it may be possible to count expenditure on other ministries' projects as defense-related expenditure if they are expected to be used for defense purposes, such as in the space sector.
