Japan's fiscal year 2007 budget, which totals 82.91 trillion yen (705 billion U.S. dollars), was passed by the lower house early Saturday despite the oppositions' attempt to block it.

The budget, the first one under the Shinzo Abe administration, has been sent to the upper house. The ruling coalition aim to have it approved at the House of Councillors by the end of the month, i. e. before the start of fiscal 2007.

At the 480-member lower house chamber, the budget was approved by 337 votes to 125, with 462 valid votes being cast. The budget is required by law to be enacted within 30 days after approval by the lower house even if the upper house fails to endorse it, meaning it would take effect on April 1 at the latest.

"I'm glad to see the budget approved because it directly affects the daily lives of the Japanese people," Abe was quoted as saying by Kyodo News after the parliament session ended at around 4:00 a.m. local time (1900 GMT, Friday).

On Friday night, the opposition camp filed motions at the lower house plenary session before the vote for the budget, to dismiss the Budget Committee Chairmen Kazuyoshi Kaneko and the head of another lower-house committee.

The opposition criticized the ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and the New Komeito party forced a vote and pushed the budget through the lower house Budget Committee on Friday evening. Both motions were voted down, however, by the ruling majority at the plenary session.

The total national budget for fiscal 2007 will rise 4.0 percent from previous fiscal year, featuring a record-high 21.1 trillion yen (179 billion U.S. dollars) allocated for social security- related spending.

Under the budget, the government will cut new government bond issuance by 15.2 percent to 25.4 trillion yen (216 billion U.S. dollars) in fiscal 2007 from the initial budget for fiscal 2006.

Meanwhile, spending on missile defense system will increase to 182.6 billion yen (1.55 billion U.S. dollars) in fiscal 2007, up more than 30 percent from fiscal 2006.

Source: Xinhua