The government disaster relief fund for the earthquake-stricken areas has hit 13.975 billion yuan (2 billion US dollars) as of 2 p.m. on Thursday, up about 1.1 billion yuan from the previous day, according to the Information Office of State Council.

The fund included 10.295 billion yuan from the central budget and 3.68 billion yuan from local budget, the office said.

(Xinhua News Agency May 22, 2008)