Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is hoping that the Japanese Cabinet will approve a proposed ¥96.3 trillion draft budget for fiscal 2015, according to Jan. 11 news reports by The Japan Times and Reuters.

The Cabinet will vote on the budget measure on Jan. 14, and if approved, will be a record budget for the Japanese government. Abe’s proposed budget is up from this fiscal year’s initial ¥95.9 trillion, two Japanese officials told The Japan Times. The fiscal year begins April 1.

Prime Minister Abe is also seeking to cut borrowing for the third year in a row,  as he seeks to maintain growth while curbing the heaviest debt burden in the industrial world. This will  be the third annual budget since Abe swept to power in late 2012, and highlights his struggle to contain exploding welfare costs in a fast-aging society while increasing discretionary spending in areas such as the military.

Reuters reported that a surge in tax revenues as the Japanese economy recovers makes for an improved fiscal picture, as Abe tries to trim the nation’s public debt. The budget for the coming year follows an extra budget of ¥3.1 trillion for this fiscal year, approved last week.

With the budget deficit — excluding new bond sales and debt servicing — projected at roughly 3 percent of gross domestic product for the 2015-16 fiscal year, Abe will meet the government’s promise of halving the debt ratio from 2010-11 levels.

According to The Japan Times, Abe raised the national sales tax last April 1 to 8 percent from 5 percent, a move which sent the world’s third-biggest economy into recession. He postponed a second increase, to 10 percent, by 18 months to April 2017, but the economy’s upturn under his fiscal policies, known as “Abenomics,” is set to boost tax revenues in the coming year.

Japanese Finance Ministry calculations show that the goal of balancing the budget by 2020-21 remains ambitious.