The government Monday submitted to the Diet a budget plan for fiscal 2018 featuring a record ¥97.71 trillion in general account spending.

The plan includes measures aimed at boosting human resource development and productivity, both key policy initiatives for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

The budget plan was presented on the first day of a 150-day regular legislative session. The government aims to pass it before April 1, the start of fiscal 2018.

The size of the general account budget was up 0.3 percent from the initial budget for fiscal 2017.

The government also submitted to the Diet a ¥2.71 trillion supplementary budget proposal partly to pay for reconstruction in areas devastated by heavy rain in northern Kyushu last July.

The extra budget is also intended to cover costs for supporting farmers who would be affected by an economic partnership agreement between Japan and the European Union.

The proposed fiscal 2018 budget includes ¥58.90 trillion in general spending for policy measures, up 0.9 percent from the initial figure for 2017.

Spending on social security services such as medical and nursing care, will rise 1.5 percent to ¥32.97 trillion due to the aging population, according to the plan.

Projected annual growth in social security spending was capped at ¥500 billion, as targeted by the government’s fiscal reconstruction program, mainly by sharply cutting drug prices.

The plan projects tax revenue in fiscal 2018 to rise 2.4 percent to ¥59.08 trillion, the highest level in 27 years, thanks mainly to more money coming in from income tax.

New government bond issues are set at ¥33.69 trillion, down 2.0 percent from 2017 and falling for the eighth straight year.