The ruling Liberal Democratic Party's special committee on the tobacco and salt industry endorsed a Finance Ministry proposal Tuesday to cut the government's mandatory stake in Japan Tobacco Inc. to 50 percent from the current 66.7 percent in fiscal 2002 or later, LDP officials said.
With the LDP's approval, the ministry is expected to submit to the regular Diet session starting next month an amendment to the law mandating the size of the governmental stake in the former tobacco monopoly, they said.
The proposed cut, if approved by the Diet, would enable the government to sell 333,000 shares on the market and generate 250 billion yen in profits if the share price remains at current levels.
The LDP panel also approved a plan to cut the government's mandatory stake in any new shares to be issued by Japan Tobacco to one-third of the total issuance.
Panel members also unanimously opposed a proposed hike in the tobacco tax for the next fiscal year, which begins in April, the officials said.