Tokyo freezes $33 bln spending plan

(AFP) – Oct 15, 2009

TOKYO — Japan's government announced on Friday it would freeze spending of about 33 billion dollars from the previous administration's extra budget as part of its war on waste in the public sector.

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's cabinet approved the suspension of spending of about 2.93 trillion yen (33 billion dollars), out of a supplementary budget of 14.7 trillion yen for the year to March 2010.

The cuts were just short of the government's target of three trillion yen. Former premier Taro Aso pushed the extra budget through parliament in May to fund his economic stimulus measures.

The savings were "unprecedented," said Hatoyama, whose Democratic Party took power last month, ending more than half a century of almost unbroken conservative rule.

"In a way, this is the start of new politics," he said.

Hatoyama's centre-left government plans to use the money to fund its campaign promises, such as expanded childcare allowances, an end to expressway tolls and free public high school tuition fees.

It has scrapped some projects including a planned national media arts centre aimed at promoting manga cartoons and animated films, as well as an expansion of highways and public housing development programmes.

The Hatoyama government will continue to try to cut waste, said Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano.

Hatoyama has "instructed the ministers to conduct thorough spending cuts in drafting (the next year's) budget," Hirano told a regular press conference.

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