Japan passes third extra budget for reconstruction

Japan's upper house of parliament has passed a third extra budget of 12.1 trillion yen to finance post-quake reconstruction work.

Funds were also allocated to deal with the impact of a persistently strong yen on the nation's economy. This third extra budget even larger than the previous two.

The budget comes amid a slowdown in the global economy and a debt crisis in the eurozone. Two trillion yen from the budget has been earmarked to counter the negative effects of the strong yen on Japan's fragile export sector, with 500 billion yen allocated as subsidies to encourage Japanese firms not to move factories overseas.

A related bill is also set to be passed on Thursday, allowing for tax hikes to partly finance the the new expenditure. It's likely to clear parliament by the end of the month.