The government denied a media report Wednesday that Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi is considering the creation of an agency outside her ministry to chiefly handle issues related to official development assistance.
At a regular morning news conference, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda flatly dismissed the report that appeared in the daily Sankei Shimbun's morning edition, which said the government is studying the feasibility of establishing such an ODA agency.
"In short, we have not studied such a plan," the government's top spokesman said.
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi was evasive when asked about the plan.
"I only heard about the news report," he said. "There will be various kinds of discussions in the future, but for now we are not at a stage to comment" on the possibility.
The Sankei reported that Kawaguchi plans to improve ODA operations by unifying government departments handling Japan's foreign aid.
Currently, the Foreign Ministry is in charge of ODA operations related to grants-in-aid and technical assistance, while the Finance Ministry deals with providing yen-denominated loans. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry also plays a role in the aid's disbursal.
Kawaguchi also denied the news report during a House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee session held Wednesday morning.
"Since ODA is an important diplomatic tool, appointing a separate Cabinet minister to that end would be questionable," Kawaguchi told the committee.
Decades of debate on whether such an agency should be established have not reached a conclusion, she added.