Japanese gov't approves record budget for next fiscal year

TOKYO, Dec. 24 (Chinese media) -- Japan's government on

Wednesday approved a record 88.55 trillion yen (980 billion dollars) budget for

fiscal 2009 in a bid to revive Asia's biggest economy staggering in the

worsening global financial turmoil.

The general-account budget penned by the Cabinet of

Prime Minister Taro Aso was up 6.6 percent from the initial fiscal 2008 budget

to reach all-time high, as issuance of new government bonds reaches 33.29

trillion yen, up 31.3 percent from 25.35 trillion yen under the initial budget.

Aso told a press conference that "When faced with

abnormal economic conditions, we need an extraordinary budget".

However, the prime minister said the aggressive

fiscal policy would be short-term and he will observe fiscal discipline over the

medium term by raising the consumption tax in fiscal 2011 at the earliest, so as

not to pass on fiscal burdens to younger generations.

The spending increase reflects an emergency economic

package that Aso announced earlier this month.

The budget will be submitted to parliament in January.

If approved, outlays for foreign aid would fall 4.0 percent while defense spending would edge down 0.1 percent.

Japanese gov't approves 2nd extra budget for FY 2008

TOKYO, Dec. 20 (Chinese media) -- The Japanese cabinet on Saturday endorsed a second supplementary budget worth 4.79 trillion yen (54.43 billion U.S. dollars) for the current fiscal year, aiming to support households, small businesses and regional economies hit hard by the global financial meltdown.

The adoption of the second extra budget came two months after the first supplementary budget for fiscal 2008, which involved 1.81 trillion yen (20.57 billion U.S. dollars), was enacted to support businesses and livelihoods affected by higher commodity prices. Full story