Y13tln Extra Budget Set To Pass Diet

TOKYO (Nikkei)--The 13.1 trillion yen supplementary budget for fiscal 2012, part of economic-stimulus measures by the government, is poised to pass the Diet Tuesday.

The ruling and opposition parties agreed at an upper house Budget Committee meeting Monday to vote on the budget proposal at the chamber's plenary session the next day.

The proposal passed the lower house earlier this month. Even if it is rejected in the upper house, the Constitution gives priority to the lower house decision.

There is a growing likelihood that the budget will pass the upper house, where the opposition holds a majority.

The ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito, as well as such opposition parties as the Japan Restoration Party and the New Renaissance Party, will likely vote in favor. They will be joined by two recent defectors from the Democratic Party of Japan.

Amendments to the budget from four opposition parties -- the DPJ, Your Party, the People's Life Party and the Social Democratic Party -- will also be put to a vote at the upper house plenary session Tuesday.

(The Nikkei, Feb. 26 morning edition)

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