Japan's Lower House has passed a budget bill for the next fiscal year, ensuring its enactment before the end of the current fiscal year on March 31.

Deliberations on the budget, totaling about 112 trillion yen, or about 746 billion dollars, continued late into Friday night at the Lower House budget committee as opposition parties rejected a move to force a vote.

The committee held further deliberations in a rare Saturday session with Prime Minister Kishida Fumio in attendance.

Ishikawa Kaori of the largest opposition Constitutional Democratic Party blamed the main governing Liberal Democratic Party for the situation.

She argued that the LDP is responsible for the confusion as it failed to fully explain suspected tax evasion in a political fund scandal involving its factions. She said the party is trying to push through the budget plan in a selfish manner.

Kishida said that the budget includes funding for measures that need to be implemented as early as April to help survivors of the Noto Peninsula earthquake.

He said that many officials of quake-hit municipalities called for the bill's early passage by the Lower House.
He asked for support for the bill so that it can be enacted before the end of the current fiscal year.

The budget bill was approved in a vote at the budget committee with support from the LDP and its junior coalition partner Komeito.

The bill was also approved at the Lower House plenary session later in the day by a majority vote and sent to the Upper House.

Japan's constitution stipulates that a budget is automatically enacted 30 days after its draft passes the Lower House, even if the upper chamber does not vote on it.