Japan's parliament set to pass tsunami recovery budget

PanARMENIAN.Net - Japan's parliament was set to pass a 4 trillion yen ($48 billion) tsunami recovery budget Monday, May 2, but even that covers only a fraction of the cost of what was the most expensive disaster ever.

Mounting frustrations over the government's response and a still unfolding nuclear crisis, meanwhile, are threatening to topple the country's increasingly unpopular prime minister as more budgetary battles lie ahead.

The supplementary budget bill for the fiscal 2011 year that started in April was unanimously approved by parliament's upper house budget committee Monday morning and was to be made into law at the chamber's plenary session later in the day. The more powerful lower house approved the plan Saturday.

The budget will cover the building of new houses for the more than 100,000 people who remain without proper shelter, the massive undertaking of clearing debris and rubble, reconstruction of fishing grounds, and support for disaster-hit businesses and their employers.

"I'm anxious to get the budget plan approved as quickly as possible so that we can reimburse funds for the projects immediately," Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda said at the budget committee meeting.

Further outlays are expected to follow in the months ahead, he said, the Associated Press reported.

The March 11 magnitude-9.0 earthquake and ensuing tsunami, which wiped out large swaths of Japan's northeastern coastline, are believed to have caused an estimated $300 billion in damage, making it the most expensive disaster ever.

More than 26,000 people are dead or missing.