The Government Revitalization Unit, a policy body aimed at slashing wasteful spending, kicked off Thursday tasked with scrutinizing — in open public view — budgetary requests from ministries for fiscal 2010.
Amid a sharp fall in tax revenues and the possible expansion of the budget, the unit, created under the new administration of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, will aim to cut expenditures to secure financial resources to fulfill election campaign promises made by the ruling Democratic Party of Japan.
At the inaugural meeting, Hatoyama said the budget will have to be allocated to "truly necessary spending" that the party vowed during its election campaign in August.