Welfare minister Chikara Sakaguchi said Friday the government should impose a ceiling on public pension benefits for high-income earners as part of fiscal 2004 reforms of the pension system.

Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Sakaguchi said it is advisable to discuss an upper limit for pension benefits being paid to high-income earners.

"It is necessary to strike a balance between benefits being paid to them and those being paid to low-income earners," Sakaguchi told reporters.