Japan has drawn up an emergency budget worth about $50bn to help finance reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami that hit the country on March 11.
The Japanese cabinet has approved the budget for 4.02 trillion yen, the finance ministry said on Friday.
The country's parliament is expected to pass the budget next week, and it is should be enacted by May.
"This is the first step toward rebuilding Japan after the major disasters," Yoshihiko Noda, the finance minister, told reporters.
