The leaders of Japan's three most powerful business groups said Monday that the uncertainty over Japan's economy is increasing this year due to the possibility of a U.S.-led war against Iraq, and predicted that annual economic growth will be between zero and nearly 1 percent.

They also said the government should take appropriate measures to spread a safety net to support healthy small and medium-size companies and unemployed people when banks are accelerating bad-loan disposal.

Hiroshi Okuda, chairman of the Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren), said the war could have a negative impact on the global economy.