Japan's government on Wednesday approved a record 88.55 trillion yen (US$980 billion) budget for fiscal 2009 in a bid to revive Asia's biggest economy staggering in the worsening global financial turmoil.

The general-account budget penned by the Cabinet of Prime Minister Taro Aso was up 6.6 percent from the initial fiscal 2008 budget to reach all-time high, as issuance of new government bonds reaches 33.29 trillion yen, up 31.3 percent from 25.35 trillion yen under the initial budget.

Aso told a press conference that "When faced with abnormal economic conditions, we need an extraordinary budget".

However, the prime minister said the aggressive fiscal policy would be short-term and he will observe fiscal discipline over the medium term by raising the consumption tax in fiscal 2011 at the earliest, so as not to pass on fiscal burdens to younger generations.

The spending increase reflects an emergency economic package that Aso announced earlier this month.

The budget will be submitted to parliament in January.

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

(Xinhua News Agency December 24, 2008)