TOKYO: The government of Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe approved Wednesday a 13.2 trillion yen stopgap budget for fiscal 2013 starting April 1 to fund its spending for 50 days, as the initial budget for the year is unlikely to be enacted until May.
The provisional budget is set to be the biggest ever of its kind, exceeding the 11.6 trillion yen stopgap budget endorsed in fiscal 1996, as it is due to cover pension expenses and large-scale public works projects aimed at stimulating the economy, according to (Kyodo) news agency.
Passage of the annual budget for the next fiscal year will be delayed since Abe's Liberal Democratic Party-led government was only formed December 26 following the December 16 general election, setting back budget drafting. (QNA)
