At the end of August, the Japanese government ministries and agencies' budget requests for the next fiscal year hit a record high of close to 105 trillion yen (around 972.82 billion U.S. dollars), government officials said, owing to the need to finance ballooning social welfare costs and other spending plans.

The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has requested a budget of 31.90 trillion yen (295.55 billion U.S. dollars), a new record high and a 2.5-percent increase from the previous budget, as spending on social security is expected to rocket to more than 32 trillion yen (296.48 billion U.S. dollars), up by about 600 billion yen (5.55 billion U.S. dollars).

Amid the record-high requests, the Japanese government also has to contend with a planned tax hike in October from 8 percent to 10 percent.

Japan's economy plunged into recession when the government raised the tax to 8 percent from five percent in 2017.

The budget requests, meanwhile, will be assessed by the Finance Ministry and adjusted as necessary and submitted to the Cabinet Office for approval by the end of the year.

The panel charged with tackling the demographic crisis, comprising 16 people from ministerial, business and academic backgrounds, will compile a report on how to deal with the issue in two stages, with an interim report due before the end of the year and the final deliverable by the summer of 2020.

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