Japan approves extra budget to deal with quakes aftermath

The Japanese Cabinet on Friday approved an extra budget for fiscal 2016 earmarked for the reconstruction and restoration of regions in the southwest that were battered by quakes last month.

The bill will be sent to parliament later in the day and will clear the lower house on May 16 and the upper house on May 17, government officials said.

The extra budget worth 770 billion yen ($7 billion), which will not be composed by new bond issuance, will use 700 billion yen in reserve funds which can be allocated as per the Cabinet's decision.

The government has already suggested this fund will be made available to help rebuild small and medium-sized businesses, as well as to restore damaged infrastructure and damage caused to agricultural facilities.

The rest of the funds will be used to help the quake-affected people directly by supporting livelihoods, and building and operating temporary evacuation buildings.

A series of earthquakes, including a magnitude 7.0, struck Kyushu region's Kumamoto city on April 16, killing 49 people and injuring over 3,000 others.

--IANS

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