Feb. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Japan’s lower house of parliament approved Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda’s 2.5 trillion yen ($32.8 billion) recovery package from last year’s earthquake and nuclear disaster.

The stimulus includes 741 billion yen in aid for small and medium-sized companies to cope with the yen’s appreciation and 300 billion yen to subsidize purchases of low-emission cars. The package will be financed without issuing new government bonds.

The extra budget is the fourth since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami left nearly 20,000 dead or missing and causing the world’s biggest nuclear crisis since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. The previous three stimulus plans totaled 18 trillion yen.

--Editor: John Brinsley

To contact the reporters on this story: Sachiko Sakamaki in Tokyo at Ssakamaki1@bloomberg.net; Takashi Hirokawa in Tokyo at thirokawa@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Peter Hirschberg in Hong Kong at phirschberg@bloomberg.net