Economic Planning Agency chief Taichi Sakaiya told executives Wednesday that he remains cautious about the nation's economic prospects, saying the current slump has yet to "clearly hit bottom."
His remarks came during a meeting with about 150 business leaders from the Japan Federation of Economic Organizations (Keidanren), group officials said.
Sakaiya was quoted as saying the economy has somewhat recovered, but he expects the current severe situation will remain and the economy will continue to remain flat, with no substantial rise or fall, for the time being.
The EPA chief also said is still rather cautious about the economy, although many private think tanks have revised their economic predictions upward after seeing improvement in growth statistics for the January-March quarter, the Keidanren officials said.