Friday's budgetary requests from ministries for the next fiscal year and the ¥2.9 trillion the government recovered from this year's extra budget reflect the Democratic Party of Japan's strong resolve to redistribute funds from public works projects to the pockets of citizens to boost domestic demand, analysts say.
The biggest target of the DPJ was the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, which oversees public works projects nationwide. The ¥917 billion slashed was the biggest figure among ministries.
Meanwhile, in the fiscal 2010 budgetary requests, ministries asked for budgets to cover child-rearing allowances, free public high schools and toll-free expressways — all pledged in the party's campaign platform for the August Lower House election.