Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa hinted Wednesday that the government may prepare an extra budget to expand the government's job creation fund.
Stressing there is no need for public spending at present, Miyazawa said it may be necessary in the future. "Unemployment is such a big problem that I sure think we might have to take a certain kind of fiscal measure at some point," he told a regular news conference at the Finance Ministry.
His comments came after Mitsuo Horiuchi, a senior member of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's committee on industrial competitiveness, visited Miyazawa earlier in the day and asked for fiscal spending to improve the worsening employment situation.
Miyazawa reiterated to reporters that he does not believe a supplementary budget is necessary now to shore up the nation's economy. The finance minister has said unemployment is the biggest concern for the economy as corporate restructuring gains momentum. The jobless rate in March hit 4.8 percent, the highest since 1953.