Japan unveils biggest postwar budget plan

TOKYO, Dec. 25 (UPI) -- A $1 trillion budget aimed at "saving people's lives" is Japan's biggest-ever postwar financial blueprint for a country still mired in public debt, experts say.

Unveiled by Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, the budget comes during rising concern about the amount of debt plaguing the world's second-largest economy, The Times of London reported Friday.

Hatoyama came to power in August promising to end wasteful spending on "roads to nowhere" public works projects and instead to support the country's beleaguered workers, The Times said.

"I believe that we have delivered all we can without compromising fiscal discipline," Hatoyama said. "Our country's economic and employment conditions are very severe. The most important thing for us is to protect the lives of the Japanese citizens."

Hatoyama's government hopes the budget's allowances for families raising children and free public high school education will help it in next summer's elections, political analysts said. His Democratic Party of Japan needs an outright majority in the election to cast off coalition partners that have hampered the prime minister's ability to govern in his first months in power, the Times said.