The government must restructure its deficit-ridden fiscal condition within the next 10 years, hopefully by the end of fiscal 2008, the Economic Strategy Council recommended in its final report submitted Friday to Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi.
The ESC, a panel of business leaders and scholars established in August, also said Japan still has the potential to attain 2 percent growth, noting the nation can achieve that goal by fiscal 2001 by taking sufficient structural reforms.
After six months of discussion and surveying economists and business leaders in Japan, the 10-member panel, headed by Hirotaro Higuchi, chairman of Asahi Breweries Ltd., drew up a scenario for economic recovery using a three-step approach in its nearly 90-page report.