Taku Yamasaki, secretary general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, said Tuesday that the reform program of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi may cause economic growth to stay below 1 percent for two to three years, party officials said.
Yamasaki made the remarks during talks with Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in Bangkok. Yamasaki is on a nine-day visit to five Southeast Asian countries.
In his talks with Thaksin, Yamasaki said Koizumi's reforms will likely take the Japanese economy through temporary stagnation, the officials said.
"But after the initial, intensive adjustment period, the Japanese economy will surely regain its growth potential," Yamasaki was quoted as saying.