Economists on Tuesday welcomed Prime Minister Taro Aso's bid to pass an extra budget, and called on the government to act quickly to hammer out and implement additional stimulus measures.
Koichi Haji, chief economist at NLI Research Institute in Tokyo, said the new stimulus steps are necessary in the face of further economic contraction, which perhaps will reach double digits in the January-March period.
"It's obvious the economy will deteriorate further if the government only implements the initial budget (for fiscal 2009). We definitely need additional fiscal expenditures," Haji said, adding the government should postpone fiscal rehabilitation to focus on economic recovery.