Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Wednesday he stands by his pledge to shift national auto tax revenues from road construction to more general usage starting next fiscal year.
"Revenue from the tax has been used only for road construction, but its usage will be expanded," Koizumi said during a debate in the Diet with Yukio Hatoyama, leader of the Democratic Party of Japan.
"You will see it in the process of compiling (the fiscal 2002) budget," he said. "My plan to review the use of the funds has not swayed at all."
Revenues from the national auto tax, which is levied on the weight of automobiles, and the gasoline tax are set aside for road construction, a practice blamed as a major reason behind a number of wasteful public works projects across the country.
In the current fiscal year through March, the national government spent 3.5 million yen on road-related work.
Koizumi has pledged to turn the special road construction funds into the general account budget, allowing the funds to be used to implement other policies.