The Abe administration on Friday approved a ¥5.76 trillion ($48.3 billion) stopgap budget to fund the government for 11 days because the fiscal 2015 budget is unlikely to be enacted by Tuesday — the last day of fiscal 2014.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his team expect the Diet to pass the provisional budget, the first since fiscal 2013, by Monday. It will take effect on April 1.
The stopgap budget allocates ¥2.97 trillion to fund local government subsidies and ¥2.16 trillion for social security, including pension and welfare payments. It also includes ¥155.2 billion for defense-related spending.
As for revenue, the administration will procure ¥26.3 billion from taxes and other commission charges. The Finance Ministry will issue financing bills for short-term funds to bridge the revenue shortfall, it said.
The House of Representatives passed a record ¥96.34 trillion draft budget for fiscal 2015 on March 13. Although the budget is now under deliberation in the House of Councilors, it is unlikely to be enacted before the start of the new fiscal year due to time constraints.
The drafting of the budget was delayed when Abe called a snap election — held on Dec. 14 — to seek continued support for his economic policies.