Cabinet members in charge of economic and fiscal policies remained at odds Tuesday over whether to cut the corporate tax rate to soften the negative impact of the consumption tax hike planned for next April.

"Is it reasonable to cut the corporate tax rate while raising the consumption tax rate (by 3 percentage points)?" Finance Minister Taro Aso said at a news conference. "From a commonsense standpoint, (a corporate tax cut) is difficult."

Aso also indicated that he believes such a cut could further hurt Japan's fiscal health, already the worst among industrialized economies.