Tokyo, Aug. 4 (Jiji Press)--Japan's government decided Tuesday to use 24,225 million yen out of the reserve funds under its fiscal 2026 budget to support areas afflicted by a major earthquake that struck the southwestern prefecture of Kumamoto a week ago. The money will be spent on relief goods that the central government sends to affected areas before receiving requests for help from relevant local governments and the construction of temporary housing by the Kumamoto prefectural government. The financial resources are part of the 1-trillion-yen general reserve funds, for which the government can decide the usage without parliamentary deliberations. General reserve funds are used in times of natural disasters and other emergencies. "We will use reserve funds without hesitation according to the situation in affected areas," Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told the day's meeting of the government's emergency disaster response headquarters. Some 20.6 billion yen will be spent on the repairs of damaged roads and expressway bridges to allow the passage of vehicles for rescue and other operations related to the disaster as well as on the restoration of other damaged public infrastructure. The government aims to help accelerate restoration work so that affected people can return to normal life as soon as possible. The July 28 quake measured up to 7, the highest level on Japan's seismic intensity scale. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]