The government's extra budget for fiscal 2009 worth a record ¥13.9 trillion to combat the economic crisis is likely to be approved by the Diet as early as this week.
Although the government claims quick enactment of the budget is crucial to prevent the economy from going into free fall, some economists cast doubt on the necessity and effectiveness of certain expenditures in the stimulus plan.
"The budget's economic boosting effects are close to zero," said Masaru Takagi, an economics professor at Meiji University in Tokyo. "The contents are really a series of wasteful spending."