Japan’s parliament has passed a record 92.3 trillion JPY (over 1 trillion USD) budget for the next fiscal year beginning in April, aiming to shore up the country’s fragile economic recovery.

The budget was approved by the House of Councillors at a plenary session on March 24. It cleared the more powerful House of Representatives early this month with the approval of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) and its two junior coalition partners.

The Japanese government is planning to issue a record 44.3 trillion JPY in bonds to fund its budget in light of its tax revenues dropping to 37.4 trillion JPY.

Under the budget, spending on social welfare will rise 9.8 percent from the 2009 fiscal year to 27.27 trillion JPY, while expenditures for public works projects will drop 18.3 percent to an allocation of 5.77 trillion JPY, the lowest apportionment in more than 32 years.

Following the passage of the budget, the ruling coalition of the DPJ, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the People's New Party (PNP) will ratify a number of key statutes by the end of March, including those to make provisions for family allowances and to dispense with fees for senior high schools./.