Japan’s Defense Plan Sets New Spending Limit
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TOKYO — Japan on Saturday announced a defense buildup plan that formally scraps a decade-old ceiling limiting defense spending to 1% of the country’s gross national product.
The announcement, which followed a special Cabinet session, said defense expenditures for the five-year period ending March 31, 1991, would be about $120 billion.
Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone told reporters the defense expenditures for each fiscal year are expected to average about 1.02% of gross national product.
Japan will maintain an exclusively defensive posture and not become a military power threatening other nations, the announcement said.
The defense budget is still subject to approval by Parliament.
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