The government on Tuesday unveiled the lineup of a soon-to-be-launched advisory panel that is hoped to play a key role in setting the direction of economic and fiscal policies.
Six top government figures and four private-sector experts were named to join the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy.
The private-sector members include two business leaders -- Jiro Ushio, chairman of Ushio Co., and Hiroshi Okuda, chairman of Toyota Motor Corp. and head of the Japan Federation of Employers' Associations (Nikkeiren).
The other two experts are from academic circles -- Osaka University professor Masaaki Honma and Tokyo University professor Hiroshi Yoshikawa.
Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori considers the new panel to be one of the major features of the reorganization of government ministries and agencies scheduled for Jan. 6.
It is being created to enable politicians, with the aid of private-sector experts, to take a hands-on role in budgetary matters and other economic policy formulation, tasks that have long been left to the bureaucracy.
The six members from the government sector are Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa, International Trade and Industry Minister Takeo Hiranuma, Home Affairs Minister Toranosuke Katayama, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda, Economic Planning Agency Chief Fukushiro Nukaga and Bank of Japan Gov. Masaru Hayami.
By law, the council is obliged to include at least four members from the private sector.
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