Japan to allocate $1.34bn for employment under extra budget

Japan's labor ministry plans to spend 138 billion yen (about 1.34 billion U.S. dollars) to promote employment under a supplementary budget aimed at boosting the country's stagnant economy, according to local media. Creating jobs for women, youths and the aged, hiking wage and improving labor conditions for non-regular employees will be the measures to achieve the goal, Japan's Kyodo News quoted ministry officials as saying. The Japanese Cabinet is expected to decide on the budget this week for fiscal 2013 ending next March, said the report, adding the budget is designed to counter adverse economic effects of the planned consumption tax hike next April. The ministry planned to earmark a total of 881.2 billion yen in the extra budget, including 342 billion yen in extra welfare benefits to low-income people and 147 billion yen in benefits to child-raising households to ease tax hike impacts.