6 tril. yen from extra budget may be diverted for DPJ's policies+

TOKYO, Sept. 10 Kyodo -
The Democratic Party of Japan may be able to divert nearly 6 trillion yen of
the fiscal 2009 extra budget, already approved under the outgoing Liberal
Democratic Party-led government, to fund its key policies, senior DPJ lawmakers
said Thursday.

The Finance Ministry has estimated that about 5.9 trillion yen of the 14
trillion yen budget, most of which has already been transferred to other
government offices and intended recipients, may be recoverable, the lawmakers
said.
The ministry has reported the estimated figure to the DPJ, which is scheduled
to form a new government next Wednesday following its landslide victory over
the LDP in last month's general election, according to the lawmakers, who spoke
on condition of anonymity.
The DPJ is planning to overhaul the stimulus spending, crafted earlier this
year by Prime Minister Taro Aso's administration, to finance its election
campaign pledges, such as new monthly child allowances.
The DPJ is hoping to raise at least 3 trillion yen from the extra budget by
stopping public works and other projects it believes involve too much wasteful
spending.
The DPJ needs to raise 7.1 trillion yen for its election pledges in the year
starting April 1.
The amount of money the DPJ could actually scrape together from the extra
budget is, however, still subject to change, given that consultations between
the party and the Finance Ministry on budgetary matters only started on Monday.
Also, it remains uncertain how much of the budget already delivered to local
governments can actually be taken back, with many ministry officials saying it
may not be easy from a legal standpoint as there has been no such precedent.
DPJ policy chief Masayuki Naoshima said, ''We did not reach a conclusion on
which way'' the DPJ and the ministry will revise the extra budget, when he
spoke Monday to reporters after the first meeting on budgetary matters between
the two sides.
==Kyodo