With the Upper House still deliberating over the fiscal 1998 state budget, the Cabinet endorsed a stopgap budget March 27 with 7.86 trillion yen in outlays to cover the first 18 days of the new fiscal year, which begins Wednesday.
By law, once a budget clears the Lower House, it automatically takes effect after 30 days, regardless of how the Upper House votes on it. A stopgap budget is drawn up to cover the interim period.
The stopgap budget is the first to be compiled in two years and is expected to be approved by both Diet chambers Monday. It includes 1.14 trillion yen in social welfare-related spending, 1.47 trillion yen in public works-related expenditures and 4.02 trillion yen in grants to local governments, according to the Finance Ministry.
The Cabinet also approved the ministry's draft for a 4.24 trillion yen provisional fiscal investment and loan program to cover the first 18 days of the new fiscal year.