To help the nation's economy recover quickly, the government should stop wasting time debating issues like the KSD money-for-favors scandal, the chairman of the Japan Federation of Employers Associations (Nikkeiren), said Wednesday.
Hiroshi Okuda told a regular news conference that the current session of the Diet should instead concentrate on passing the fiscal 2001 budget.
Japan's economy has shifted from recovery to stagnation and is now on the brink of another slowdown, Okuda said, adding that the economy is unlikely to attain the government-targeted growth rate of 1.7 percent in fiscal 2001, which starts April 1.
The nation's economy depends too much on external demand, Okuda said, adding that the recent slowdown in the U.S. and Southeast Asian economies will have a negative affect on Japan.