October 2, 2002	Wednesday	Rajab 24, 1423

TOKYO, Oct 1: An advisory panel to the Japanese finance minister will draw up proposals this month on planned tax cuts for fiscal 2003-04, the panel’s chairman said on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has pledged to cut taxes by more than one trillion yen ($8.21 billion) in the fiscal year starting next April.

The cuts, focusing on corporate taxes, are expected to be at the core of Koizumi’s measures to stimulate the fragile economy.

However, policymakers have yet to agree on the scale of the cuts and specific measures.

Hiromitsu Ishi, the panel’s chief, said he did not expect the panel to give a conclusion on a specific amount for the overall tax cuts, saying that would probably have to be based on how much revenue could eventually be raised to cover the tax cuts.

Private sector members of Koizumi’s top economic advisory panel, the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy (cefp), have proposed a tax cut worth 0.5 per cent of gross domestic product for the next fiscal year.—Reuters