The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the chief spender of public works outlays, will seek a budget of 7.9 trillion yen to fund its activities in fiscal 2002, ministry officials said Saturday.

Of the total, requests associated with public works expenditures account for 7.3 trillion yen, the same amount as in fiscal 2001, which started last April 1, the officials said.

The figure is the same as in the current fiscal year because the government has demanded that budget requests not increase, they said.