Japan’s government has approved 352 billion Yen ($4.3 billion) of funds for debris and waste disposal in the wake of the devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit the country on March 11.

The package is part of 4 trillion yen ($48.7 billion) of spending in government’s first emergency budget for disaster relief since the disaster.

The emergency budget, which will likely be followed by more spending packages later to fund reconstruction, also includes about 1.6 trillion yen ($19.5 billion) of infrastructure-related spending.

It will be submitted to parliament next week and is expected to be enacted in May.

However, according to Reuters while authorities are wary of adding to a massive public debt - already twice the size of Japan’s $5 trillion economy - additional bond issuance is likely for subsequent extra budgets that will be needed for rebuilding after the disaster, which has left nearly 28,000 dead or missing and triggered a major nuclear crisis.

Tokyo estimates the material damage alone could top $300 billion in the world’s costliest natural disaster.

“With this budget, we are taking one step forward towards reconstruction after the Great Tohoku Earthquake and towards restarting the economy,” Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda told reporters after a cabinet meeting.

“It is notable that we compiled about a 4 trillion yen budget without issuing new JGBs (Japanese government bonds). It was quite difficult to bring the amount to 4 trillion yen, but we have worked it out,” he added