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Japan aims to skip extra 00/01 budget-PM spokesman

TOKYO: The Japanese government hopes it will not have to compile an extra budget for the fiscal year from April but it is too early to say if further stimulus will be needed, a spokesman for Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi told reporters on Monday.

The spokesman, Akitaka Saiki, speaking after the release of gross domestic product data for the October-December quarter that showed the economy tipped back into recession late last year, said the government still hoped to achieve its target of 0.6 percent growth in the fiscal year to the end of March. "We are hoping to achieve the target of 0.6 percent growth by the end of this March," Saiki said.

He said the main reason for the contraction in the October-December quarter was stagnant personal consumption but the figures had been on an upward trend since the beginning of this year.

Asked whether further economic stimulus would be needed this year, Saiki said: "I think it is too early to say either way... We have to look at the figures for April-June which will be released sometime in early September."

But he added, "The government hopes it will not have to compile an extra budget to maintain economic growth." -Reuters