The government on Friday named Toshiba Corp. President Norio Sasaki, Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corp. President Yoshimitsu Kobayashi and two economists as members of a key economic panel to be reinstated under the newly launched Cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

The four, including Motoshige Ito, an economics professor at the University of Tokyo's graduate school, and Susumu Takahashi, chairman of the Japan Research Institute, will represent the private sector and academic circles at the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy to be headed by Abe.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Abe picked the four to "support the prime minister with their knowledge," taking into account the corporate executives' "bold business decisions reflecting their global perspectives" and the economists' "ability to explain complex economic issues in a plain way."