Political parties and affiliated organizations collected a combined 290.8 billion yen in political funds in 2004, a 9.8 percent decline from the previous year and below the 300 billion yen mark for the second time since the early 1990s, a Kyodo News survey revealed Thursday.
The total amount of political funds also sank below the 300 billion yen mark in 2002 to 287.9 billion yen.
The 2004 total includes 152.7 billion yen collected by local chapters of political parties and organizations.
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