Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa said Friday he hopes tax reform now being considered for implementation in fiscal 2003 will reinvigorate the economy.

"As for tax reforms in fiscal 2003 and later, I want to place priority on revitalizing the economy," Shiokawa told the Lower House Budget Committee, suggesting that tax cuts may be pre-empted by comprehensive reforms.

The government in January started discussing comprehensive tax reforms as a key pillar of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's economic structural reform initiatives.