Japan's lower house of parliament passed an extra budget Saturday worth 4 trillion yen (49 billion dollars) to finance reconstruction after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami ravaged the north-eastern region, DPA reported.
The first supplementary budget is expected to be enacted on Monday when the upper house votes on it. Opposition parties that control the chamber have said they would support the spending package.
The largest chunk of the budget, about 1.2 trillion yen, would be used to repair roads, bridges, ports and other infrastructure destroyed by the magnitude-9 earthquake and tsunami.
Another 362.6 billion yen was earmarked for construction of 70,000 temporary houses for survivors, 351.9 billion yen for debris removal and 510 billion yen as financial support for small businesses in affected areas.
The government estimated that the budget would push up the nation's annual real gross domestic product by around 0.6 per cent.
The March disaster left 14,616 people dead and 11,111 missing, Japan's National Police Agency said.
Japan's lower house approves extra budget for quake relief
Japan's lower house of parliament passed an extra budget Saturday worth 4 trillion yen (49 billion dollars) to finance reconstruction after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami ravaged the north-eastern region.
