By Xinhua,
Beijing : China Wednesday said it has allocated another 660 million yuan (nearly $95 million) in relief funds for the quake-stricken localities in the southwestern provinces.
The new funding includes 500 million yuan ($71.8 million) in living subsidies for survivors in the hardest-hit Sichuan province, and 60 million yuan ($8.6 million) for those in Shaanxi province, the ministry said.
It also said that a sum of 100 million yuan ($14.3 million) has been distributed among Sichuan, Gansu, Chongqing, Shaanxi and Yunnan provinces towards ensuring emergency water supply.
Chinese premier Wen Jiabao announced Wednesday the government would cut its annual budget by 5 percent this year to free funds for relief work in the quake-devastated province of Sichuan.
The government would allocate a total of 25 billion yuan ($3.6 billion dollars) to quake-hit areas and freeze approval of new official buildings, Wen said at a meeting of the State Council, or cabinet.
Meanwhile, the efforts to house some 10 million people, who were rendered homeless by the May 12 devastating quake, have been hampered by overcast conditions and continuing risk of flood, landslides and aftershocks.
The National Meteorological Bureau has forecast moderate or heavy rain for the next three days in areas of Sichuan which bore the brunt of an 8.0-magnitude quake that killed more than 41,000 people and left at least 33,000 missing.