Despite rejection by the Upper House, Japan passed a record 96.7-trillion-yen ($1.18 trillion) budget for fiscal 2012 on April 5, days after the new business year had already started.
General account spending totaled 90.3 trillion yen, the first drop in six years from the initial budget of the previous fiscal year.
However, expenditures to fund projects to rebuild from the Great East Japan Earthquake and spending on national pensions pushed overall outlays to a record high.
Opposition parties, which control the Upper House, have been calling on Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda to dissolve the Lower House and call a snap election. As part of that strategy, they voted against the budget legislation on April 5.
But the Lower House, controlled by the ruling coalition, passed the budget in March. Under a provision in the Constitution, the Lower House overrides the Upper House if the two Diet chambers disagree on the budget.
It was the second straight time the Lower House's decision has overridden Upper House opposition on an initial budget for a fiscal year.
The passage of the budget is also the first in 14 years to come after the fiscal year has started.
Funds for the national pension program are expected to be raised with the issuance of new bonds.
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