TOKYO —

Some 70 percent of the 47 prefectural governments in Japan will freeze the implementation of road-related budgets for fiscal 2008 due to the expiration of the provisionally raised gasoline and other road-related taxes, according to a survey compiled by Kyodo News on Wednesday.
Budgets to be frozen by the 33 prefectural governments total some 570 billion yen.

The 33 prefectures intend to remove the freeze if the provisional tax rates are revived again, as planned by the government. But if the absence of the provisional tax continues, there will be road construction projects that may be canceled or reduced. Of the 33 prefectures, the Tochigi government has decided to freeze road-related budgets totaling 44.1 billion yen and other outlays worth 5 billion yen.

© 2008 Kyodo News. All rights reserved. No reproduction or republication without written permission.

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2 Comments

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  hachmike66 at 10:46 AM JST - 3rd April

  Scare mongering! What a bunch of losers. They lost the battle over the gas tax, so what do they do, they stop almost every construction project to force people to protest for jobs etc. I guess the LDP is not as stupid as I thought. But I really hope that the people of Japan don't fall for this tactic and keep the pressure on the bastards to keep th gas tax off. Did some quick calculations and figured between me and the wife with this gas cut we will save Y50 000 a year on gas alone. Not too shabby.

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  Altria at 10:53 AM JST - 3rd April

  The local governments are as crooked as the central politicians.

  Stop begging for handouts and do something to help your local economy, ya bums.

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