Yosano vows battle against economic crisis, mulls fresh stimulus

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TOKYO, Feb. 17 Kyodo -
Economic and Fiscal Policy Minister Kaoru Yosano, who replaced Shoichi Nakagawa
as finance and financial services minister, pledged Tuesday night to fight
against the current economic crisis engulfing Japan, while hinting that the
government will consider drafting a fresh stimulus package.

In a hastily arranged press conference, Yosano said, ''It is my duty to make
all-out efforts to pass budgetary bills through the Diet to support people's
livelihoods.'' He also said he will focus on ensuring the smooth operation of
the entire system of finance and on spurring demand in Japan.
The minister also said he will ''examine various opinions'' from business,
academia and mass media in studying the possibility of a new economic package,
which would come in addition to the already announced stimulus steps worth 75
trillion yen in total.
Yosano has assumed triple ministerial posts in an unprecedented move. Since he
has suffered from throat cancer, critics doubt whether he is physically capable
of taking the helm on the nation's economic policies.
However, Yosano said, ''I have confidence in my physical strength and would
like to attend international conferences as much as possible.''
The 70-year-old veteran politician is known as a strong advocate of a
consumption tax hike to secure fiscal discipline. Asked whether he can adopt an
aggressive fiscal policy that would increase the nation's debts, Yosano said,
''Politicians are very pragmatic. We will choose appropriate policies as the
situation demands.''
==Kyodo