TOKYO (AP) -- Japan's parliament has approved a 2.5 trillion yen ($32.9 billion) extra budget bill, the fourth one to fund reconstruction projects after last year's disasters and support the nation's economy.
The lower house on Friday approved the supplementary budget for the fiscal year ending March 31. The bill will be further debated in the upper chamber but will eventually become law due to the lower house's superiority.
The budget includes 740 billion yen ($9.7 billion) to help small businesses hit by last March's earthquake and tsunami obtain loan guarantees to rebuild. The budget also earmarks 300 billion yen ($3.9 billion) to finance green vehicle promotion programs.
Japan passed three sets of supplementary budgets last year totaling some 18 trillion yen ($230 billion).
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