Staff writer
Amid rising domestic and international pressure to boost expenditures and revive stagnant consumption, time is running short for the government to announce a much-awaited pump-priming package.
Even as the fiscal 1998 state budget bills neared passage by the Lower House, Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, who has refused to announce a departure from his fiscal austerity policy, remained quiet about a widely expected extra budget, which would include new expenditures to boost the economy.