Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Thursday reiterated his determination to have government-sponsored pension reform legislation enacted during the ongoing Diet session.

He made the pledge before a plenary session of the House of Representatives, which began deliberations on the contentious bills amid opposition demands for more comprehensive pension reforms than those the government has put forward.

Koizumi said the bills constitute "drastic reforms" to keep the battered pension system afloat by setting the lower limit for benefits and the upper limit for premiums and increasing the government's contributions to the state pension scheme.