A study group set up by the ruling coalition agreed Friday on the need to reduce the amount of Japan's official development assistance to developing countries in the fiscal 2001 budget, members of the group said.

The policy team did not recommend a percentage for the cut, but said it is against a severe reduction, such as the 30 percent proposed by Liberal Democratic Party policy chief Shizuka Kamei.

The group, led by former Foreign Minister Taro Nakayama, consists of lawmakers from the LDP and its two coalition partners -- New Komeito and the New Conservative Party.