The Diet on Thursday passed an extra budget for fiscal 2002 that allocates 3 trillion yen to ease the negative impact of the accelerated disposal of nonperforming loans at the nation's banks.
The supplementary budget was enacted when the House of Councilors approved it. It cleared the House of Representatives on Monday.
Half of the 3 trillion yen is allocated to public works, with the other half earmarked for safety-net measures to deal with the surge in unemployment and bankruptcies expected to result from the accelerated cleanup of the banking sector.
The extra budget includes 1.2 trillion yen aimed at financing increases in obligatory costs, such as social security spending, and makes up for an expected shortfall in tax revenues of 2.54 trillion yen.