Tuesday, August 7, 2001
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The meeting of the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy (CEFP) was convened at the Prime Minister's Official Residence to discuss the formulation of budget request ceilings for the FY2002 budget and the methods of progressing with future structural reforms. Concerning the framework for budget request ceilings, while it is the case that the issuance of new government bonds will be kept beneath the 30 trillion yen level, in order to formulate decisive budgetary revisions, it was agreed to reduce the ceiling on public works projects and Official Development Assistance by 10%, while increasing the ceiling for budget requests in seven key areas - IT, urban rejuvenation, the environment, the declining birth rate and aging society, education, science and technology, and regional vitalization - by 20%, on a year-on-year basis. The issue of budget request ceilings will be discussed further at the next CEFP meeting to be held on 9 August 2001. |