Several Cabinet ministers on Thursday defended a plan to use funds from the sale of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. shares to finance a 2.5 trillion yen second supplementary budget for fiscal 2001.
"I am aware that there are various views. I myself have interpreted the plan as making use of surplus funds," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said.
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and his two ruling coalition partners agreed Wednesday to compile the auxiliary budget by lending 2.5 trillion yen of a 4.7 trillion yen reserve fund for repayment within five years.