Yoshihiko Noda, the leader of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP), emphasized a plan to reduce wasteful expenditures by cutting 7.78 trillion yen from the fiscal 2025 budget. According to the CDP’s proposal released on February 6, the plan targets surplus funds from various ministry allocations that are often left unspent due to overly broad spending categories, such as those meant to foster digital transformation or promote a carbon-neutral economy.
The party’s proposal outlines an ambitious reallocation of these funds to support new and expanded policy programs. Among the proposed policies are making school lunches free and eliminating tuition fees for senior high school students, including those at private institutions. The plan further extends to higher education by allocating 1.7 trillion yen to facilitate free access to university and vocational school education, underscoring the CDP’s focus on reducing the financial burdens on families.
Additionally, the proposal suggests boosting revenues in key sectors such as elderly care and disability services, aiming to enhance support structures for these communities. The CDP has also called for a drastic reduction of the reserve fund from 1 trillion yen, a portion of the budget typically reserved for emergencies but frequently used for routine policy measures, as seen during the COVID-19 pandemic. At a public rally on February 6 in Tokyo, Noda highlighted that the party had already managed to reassign 100 billion yen from a supplementary budget, and now aspires to redirect at least 1 trillion yen to better address their policy priorities.