Both Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa on Friday threw a wet blanket on expectations that the government will draft a supplementary budget.
Some ruling party lawmakers and economists have said the newly enacted fiscal 2003 budget falls short of being able to revive the deflation-weary economy.
"We have just passed the fiscal 2003 budget. It's too early to talk about a supplementary budget and I have no intention of compiling one at this time," Koizumi told a news conference after the Diet passed a 81.79 trillion yen general account budget for the fiscal year that begins Tuesday.
His remarks were echoed by Shiokawa, who at a news conference earlier in the day said such an idea was "ridiculous" at this point.
Pressed by reporters, the finance chief also rejected the possibility of an extra budget being submitted by the time the current Diet session ends June 18.
The remarks come amid growing concerns that the U.S.-led war against Iraq may drag on longer than expected and effectively swell postwar reconstruction costs, part of which Japan will have to shoulder.
In the fiscal 2003 budget, new government bond issuances will come to 36.45 trillion yen, a record high for an initial budget and topping by 21.5 percent the 30 trillion yen cap once advocated by Koizumi as a means of controlling the nation's ballooning debt.
Some lawmakers have already started to urge the government to draft a supplementary budget for fiscal 2003 to finance additional economic pump-priming measures.
The prime minister also took the opportunity to reiterate that he will press forward with his structural reform drive, including reforms to the tax system, while not increasing government spending.