Japan’s fiscal 2025 initial budget requests likely hit a record of over 117 trillion yen ($808 billion), a record high for the second straight year, a Kyodo News tally showed Friday, with social security and defense spending swelling. Requests from the Defense Ministry and the health ministry, which is in charge of medical and pension policies, increased to their largest levels, while rising interest rates raised the cost of servicing debt used to cover shortfalls in tax revenue. The general-account budget for the next fiscal year from April 2025 could surpass the previous record of 114.38 tri…