The Cabinet has endorsed guidelines for the fiscal 2002 budget, in which a 30 trillion yen cap on new government bonds for that year forms the centerpiece of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's structural reforms.

Based on the outline, drawn up by the Council on Fiscal and Economic Policy, the budget-making process will enter the final phase toward compilation by the end of the year.

After incorporating demands by the ruling parties, however, the outline appears to lack the boldness of what Koizumi had initially planned.