. | . |
|
. |
by Staff Writers Tokyo (AFP) June 14, 2011 Prime Minister Naoto Kan instructed his cabinet ministers on Tuesday to compile another relief budget to help efforts to rebuild the nation's northeast devastated by the March quake and tsunami. The government plans no bond issuance to finance the extra spending, ministers said. The extra budget is expected to be smaller than a first four trillion yen ($50 billion) supplementary budget for the year to fiscal 2012. "We will include... urgent measures that were not included in the current first supplementary budget," Kan said in parliament. Kan said one measure could be assistance to those who are burdened with "double loans" -- a remaining mortgage on a house destroyed in the March 11 disaster and another borrowing on a new house. The government aims to compile the new budget possibly in July, Kan said. Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda told reporters the government had no intention to rely on the issuance of government bonds to compile the secondary extra budget. "We need to have thoughtful discussions in the case of issuing government bonds, and if we are not to have such talks, we should in principle deal with the matter using other financial resources," Noda said. Analysts have warned that any extra borrowing will further put further pressure on Japan's public debt mountain, which at around 200 percent of GDP, is the highest of industrialised nations. Japan's parliament in May passed an emergency 4.015 trillion yen relief budget to help restoration work such as clearing massive amounts of rubble and building temporary housing for the thousands of people who lost their homes. The 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami on March 11 left more than 23,000 dead or missing and crippled the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, which has been releasing radioactive materials into the environment. For the first extra budget the government plans to divert some funds originally aimed at supporting pensions and child allowances, while also slashing plans to cancel highway tolls. -- Dow Jones Newswires contributed to this story --
|
. |
|
The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2011 - Space Media Network. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement |