TOKYO: Japan's new government bond issuance in the current fiscal year is likely to hit a record exceeding 100 trillion yen ($960 billion) as the coronavirus pandemic took a heavy toll on the economy, the Nikkei newspaper said on Wednesday.

Tax revenues during the year that ends in March 2021 will likely fall 8 trillion yen short of initial estimates to around 55 trillion yen, the paper said without citing sources.

That would be the biggest shortfall since fiscal 2009, when the collapse of Lehman Brothers triggered a global financial crisis.