The Finance Ministry announced a reshuffle Friday of senior officials, with budget affairs chief Yasushi Manago becoming the top bureaucrat.
Manago, 58, replaces Eijiro Katsu as administrative vice minister. Katsu, 62, led the ministry in crafting the recently passed law to double the consumption tax to 10 percent by 2015.
Yasushi Kinoshita, 55, succeeds Manago as Budget Bureau chief, while Tatsuo Yamasaki, 54, will take Kinoshita's previous post as head of the International Bureau.
The new lineup will soon face challenges in compiling the fiscal 2013 budget, as the ministry must handle swelling welfare costs and the aging population. Japan's fiscal health is the worst among major developed economies.