1.   A standoff in the Diet, where opposition lawmakers are blocking access to the main chamber, has raised the possibility Japan may need to draft a provisional budget.

2.   Finance Minister Wataru Kubo said the Ministry of Finance plans to start work next week on a provisional budget for the next fiscal year.

3.   Nervous ticket holders have been calling The Ahwahnee since last week, when the latest provisional budget was nearing expiration.

4.   The political stalemate has made a provisional budget all but inevitable, traders and investors said.

5.   The political stalemate has made a provisional budget all but inevitable, investors said.

6.   Today is effectively the deadline for the passage of the bill if the ruling coalition wants to avoid a provisional budget, experts say.

7.   Traders and analysts were unsure what effect a provisional budget would have on bonds.

8.   Today is the deadline for passage of the original bill for the next fiscal year if the ruling coalition wants to avoid facing a provisional budget, Kubo said.

9.   Yesterday, Finance Minister Wataru Kubo said the Ministry of Finance, which is in charge of drafting the budget, would begin work on a provisional budget.

10.   No provisional budget has been released.