The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Tokyo

Japan's government on Wednesday approved a record 88.55 trillion yen (980 billion dollar) budget for fiscal 2009 in a bid to revive Asia's biggest economy, which is slipping deeper into recession.

The cabinet of Prime Minister Taro Aso at a morning meeting formally adopted the budget for the year starting in April, officials said.

The general-account budget comes to an all-time high of 88.55 trillion yen, up 6.6 percent from the initial fiscal 2008 budget, as issuance of new government bonds soars 31.3 percent to 33.29 trillion yen.

The spending increase reflects an emergency economic package that Aso announced earlier this month in a fresh bid to stave off a prolonged recession in the world's second-largest economy. Japan's already debt-ridden state coffers would worsen, with the outstanding balance of government bond issues reaching a record 581 trillion yen at the March 2010 end of the fiscal year. The budget will be submitted to parliament in January.

If approved, outlays for foreign aid would fall 4.0 percent while defence spending would edge down 0.1 percent.