The Lower House was set to enact the fiscal 2011 budget early Tuesday morning, but the fate of related bills critical to financing the government's massive debt remained up in the air with the divided Diet.
The ¥92.4 trillion budget was set to clear the Lower House budget committee late Monday night and expected to be enacted in a plenary session of the Diet on Tuesday. Although the opposition-controlled Upper House can reject the budget, the more powerful Lower House has the power to override it.
The related bills, however, are a different story. The Upper House is expected to scrap them — including one needed to authorize the issuance of special deficit-covering bonds. The bonds are designed to cover implementation of about 40 percent of the fiscal 2011 budget starting in April, and the ruling coalition lacks the two-thirds majority needed in the Lower House to force them through.