The Finance Ministry says budget requests from Japan's ministries and agencies will top 110 trillion yen, or about 780 billion dollars, for the second year in a row.

The ministry says the requests for fiscal 2023 starting in April were made by the end of last month. The combined figure is second only to the amount for fiscal 2022.

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry is asking for the biggest budget at roughly 240 billion dollars.

The Defense Ministry is seeking a record of over 5.5 trillion yen, or nearly 40 billion dollars. That request is based on the government's plan to drastically strengthen defense capabilities within 5 years.

Detailed amounts were not given for some key areas including defense and efforts to promote a green economy, so the final total may rise even further.