Japan passes 3rd extra budget for reconstruction

Japan's upper house of parliament on Monday passed a 12.1 trillion yen (155 billion U.S. dollars) third extra budget to finance post-quake reconstruction initiatives, with funds also allocated to deal with the impact of a persistently strong yen on the nation's economy. The passages in the upper house is an outcome of compromises of the ruling and opposition parties, including agreement to raise some taxes provisionally and to secure financial sources for the budget. The more powerful lower house, controlled by ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), already passed the supplementary budget on Nov. 10. The third extra budget is larger than the previous two, the first worth some 4 trillion yen and the second of about 2 trillion yen, and is the second largest ever following one that was created in 2009 to spur the economy after the global financial crisis. Besides financing rebuilding infrastructure and resolving the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant related problems, the extra budget also includes 2 trillion yen to reduce the negative impact of a consistently strong yen on Japan's key export sector. (1 U.S. dollar is equivalent to 76.8 yen)