Govt Panel to OK Postponement in Key Fiscal Reform Goal

Tokyo, Nov. 14 (Jiji Press)--An advisory panel to the finance
minister is expected to tolerate the government's postponement of its goal
of achieving a primary budget surplus in fiscal 2011, Jiji Press has
learned.

In its position paper on budget compilation for fiscal 2009
starting next April, the Fiscal System Council is set to state that a brief
slowdown in the government's fiscal reconstruction efforts is inevitable at
a time when Japan is working to combat the deeping global financial crisis
through fiscal stimulus measures, informed sources said.
The panel, which urged the government in its June paper to make
all-out efforts to achieve the primary budget balance target, is expected to
refrain from repeating the call in the upcoming report.
The panel will start full-fledged discussions on its fiscal 2009
budget recommendations on Friday and submit a final report to Finance
Minister Shoichi Nakagawa possibly by the end of this month.
Still, the panel will continue to call on the government to
maintain its fiscal reform efforts to prevent a sharp increase in a primary
budget deficit through such steps as slashing expenditures and focusing its
resources on selected policy domains, the sources said.
In his policy speech in September, Prime Minister Taro Aso
backpedaled on the government's key fiscal reform target, suggesting that
achieving it in fiscal 2011 is a nonbinding goal.
Economic and Fiscal Policy Minister Kaoru Yosano also hinted last
month at reviewing the government target amid possible tax revenue
shortfalls, saying that Japan will have to seriously consider fiscal policy
when tax revenue estimates are available late this year.