Government-affiliated firms and local governments are expected to request 37.96 trillion yen for the fiscal 2000 investment and loan program, the Finance Ministry said Friday.
This general outlay portion of the so-called "zaito" program will be 3.5 percent lower than that of this year's budget, the first year-on-year decline in two years.
The drop is partly attributed to an expected 24.3 percent fall in budget requests by the successors of Japan Development Bank and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, both of which will be created in October.
A senior Finance Ministry official said the sharp drop will not be a result of deliberate efforts. Japan Development Bank's budget for this fiscal year, for instance, is exceptionally high because of measures to help businesses amid the credit crunch, the official explained.
Housing-related institutions, including Housing Loan Corp., are expected to ask for 11.58 trillion yen, or 4.4 percent higher than the fiscal 1999 budget. The increase will be necessary to include economic stimulus measures, the ministry official said.
The zaito program, often called the second state budget, is compiled separately from the government general account budget, which draws mainly on tax revenues. Zaito funds come from non-tax income, including state-run postal savings.