22 October 2001, 10:08 Gov't to revise economic target downward to contraction on Fri.
TOKYO, Oct. 22 (Kyodo) - Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda
told senior government officials and ruling coalition lawmakers on
Monday that the government will revise downward its real economic
growth target of 1.7% for the current fiscal year and announce a
new figure on Friday, ruling bloc legislators said.
Fukuda, speaking in a meeting of the senior officials and
lawmakers held at the Diet building, was apparently referring to a
government plan to restate the projection as an economic
contraction.
The government is considering revising the target to around
minus 1%, after Japan's economy was hit by a drop in demand in the
information technology sector and suffered a negative economic
impact from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States,
government sources said.
On the possibility of compiling a second extra budget for the
current fiscal year, Fukuda did not rule it out, saying, "We will
deal with it in a flexible but bold manner in the future,"
according to the lawmakers.
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said last Friday he will take
additional steps "as the occasion demands" in relation to a
second supplementary budget.
"I will not make us go down in a deflationary spiral. I will
not cause confusion in the Japanese economy, including finances,"
the premier told reporters en route from Tokyo to Shanghai, where
he attended the weekend summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic
Cooperation forum.
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