The nation's business community welcomed the latest pump-priming package Monday and renewed calls for the government to quickly decide on the particulars of planned tax cuts worth some 7 trillion yen.

Takashi Imai, chairman of the Japan Federation of Economic Organizations (Keidanren), described the stimulus plan as sufficient both in scale and content. "The package shows a path leading to economic recovery. The private sector is having difficulty making facility investments," Imai said.

Including all possible measures to increase capital liquidity, Monday's measures are expected to help ease tight credit conditions in the private sector, Imai said. The proposed public works spending will ensure continuity in the government's efforts to lift the economy, coming at a time when the previous package unveiled last April is about to start taking effect, he added.

However, Imai noted that the package fell short of detailing the planned tax cuts. He said that the government should settle on the particulars when the fiscal 1999 budget is compiled.

Meanwhile, Kosaku Inaba, chairman of the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said he expects the package will improve corporate and consumer sentiment, as well as help facilitate structural reforms in the private sector. In his statement, Inaba added that the government should place higher priority on implementing measures that will have a quick impact and create jobs.