Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Monday basically approved the Finance Ministry's final draft of the budget request framework for fiscal 2003. The plan calls for a 2 percent cut in discretionary spending, which includes overseas aid, and a 3 percent reduction in public works outlays.
Koizumi gave the nod to the plan in a meeting with the ministry's top bureaucrats at his office in the morning, ministry officials said.
The draft was to be discussed further in a meeting of Cabinet ministers and ruling coalition lawmakers in the evening. Once the plan is approved in that meeting, the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy will meet Tuesday to decide on the framework.