The government may have to prepare a second supplementary budget even if the 0.5 percent growth target for this fiscal year looks certain to be achieved in September, Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa indicated Wednesday.
The extra budget may be necessary to keep the economy afloat so that the public can see quarter-on-quarter growth as well as year-on-year growth, he indicated at a regular news conference.
Miyazawa expressed this opinion in an indirect way, stressing it is not a consensus view in the government.
He was referring to the fact that the remarkable 1.9 percent quarter-on-quarter growth for the January-March period is strong enough to translate into 0.5 percent year-on-year growth in the year to March 2000 -- even if there is -0.2 percent growth in four consecutive quarters.
"It would not be very good" if the economy continues to fall quarter-on-quarter, he said.
The government has said that a second supplementary budget depends on the gross domestic product data for the April-June quarter to be released in September.
Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi's Cabinet set a target of 0.5 percent growth for the economy in fiscal 1999.