The Lower House on Nov. 10 passed the supplementary budget for fiscal 2011 to finance reconstruction from the March 11 disasters. This week the Upper House has started deliberations on it. Both the extra budget and related bills are expected to be enacted by the end of the month. But more than eight months have passed since the disasters happened. The government and lawmakers must make serious efforts to accelerate reconstruction.
The ¥12.1 trillion budget outlays ¥9.24 trillion for the reconstruction, including ¥245.9 billion to clean up areas contaminated by radioactive materials from the nuclear power plant, ¥1.56 trillion in grants for such purposes as helping disaster-hit municipalities move communities to higher ground, and some ¥2 trillion to help business enterprises secure locations for production and other activities.
Of the budget's sum, ¥11.55 trillion will be covered by bonds. To help redeem the bonds, people will have to pay 2.1 percent more income tax for 25 years from January 2013. The residential tax will be raised by ¥1,000 annually for over 10 years.