A top economic adviser to Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi harshly criticized the Bank of Japan's decision Wednesday not to ease its monetary policy, a matter he said Obuchi took "very seriously."
Ichizo Ohara, a veteran lawmaker of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, said the BOJ's monetary policy should complement the government's fiscal policy to prop up the economy.
"While the government is swallowing its pride and taking a radical fiscal policy, the BOJ alone is saying theoretical things. That will not help the state reconstruction," Ohara said in a speech in Tokyo. He was referring to a series of economic stimulus measures the government has implemented with a huge issuance of bonds.