New Finance Minister Hirohisa Fujii promised Friday that the government will compile the fiscal 2010 budget by the end of the year like it does every year, and that its framework will be decided by early next month.

Since the Democratic Party of Japan plans to fundamentally overhaul the structure of the national budget, which has been designed for decades by governments led by the Liberal Democratic Party, many in political and business circles are concerned the budget process for next year may be delayed.

Fujii's remark was apparently aimed at easing such concerns.