A government panel will compile a set of measures by the end of the month to promote effective land utilization as part of efforts to boost the economy, Chief Cabinet Secretary Kanezo Muraoka said Oct. 14.The panel, consisting of Cabinet members and policymakers from the ruling alliance, on Oct. 14 discussed a possible review of the current land taxation system. Talks also focused on the possibility of lifting restrictions on farm land conversion, the promotion of housing construction and whether to relax regulations on the ratio of floor and plot areas on which buildings stand, the top government spokesman said.Muraoka, who heads the panel, said the agriculture, forestry and fisheries minister, Yoshinobu Shimamura, will join the next meeting of the panel because "utilization of land should not be limited to city areas." Muraoka said his panel will complete the measures after a panel made up of Liberal Democratic Party members submits to the government a report on revamping the economy. The panel, headed by LDP policy chief Taku Yamasaki, is scheduled to compile the report by Oct. 20.
