Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi showed signs Thursday of backpedaling on his pledge to limit fresh government bond issuance to 30 trillion yen for this fiscal year.

"It is not good to use the expression that I am sticking to it (the debt cap)," the prime minister told reporters at his official residence. "I have put my goal to within 30 trillion yen, to take necessary steps within that limit. There is no change in that goal."

Koizumi's comments came two days after saying in an interview that he will stick to the debt cap, while hinting that the target may change if tax revenues fall sharply.