The Government Revitalization Unit, tasked with reducing wasteful spending, called Monday for cuts in the Urban Renaissance Agency's two apartment projects worth a combined ¥418 billion in this year's budget and its five urban renewal projects worth a total of ¥181 billion.
The unit also demanded that reserves worth ¥40.7 billion held by related corporations be returned, while calling for a swift review of the agency's murky contracts with those corporations.
Ruling coalition lawmakers and private-sector experts were mainly looking Monday into programs related to research and development at independent administrative institutions. It was the second day of the panel's second round of public discussions on reviewing spending at government-funded programs.