Nepal's caretaker government gets budget approved

KATMANDU, Nepal (AP) - Nepal's president has approved the government's budget, allowing tens of thousands of workers, teachers and health care providers to be paid and continuing development work.

The government ran out of money last week but was unable to get the new budget approved in time because of pressure from the opposition parties. They wanted Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai to resign and a new government to be in place before the budget was announced.

President Ram Baran Yadav's office announced close to midnight on Tuesday that the 352 billions rupees (S$4.9 billion) budget was approved but no reason was given to why he changed his mind.

Mr Yadav had earlier told the prime minister to get the agreement from opposition parties since Nepal does not have a working parliament.