Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki said Friday that he will appoint seven business leaders and experts April 1 to help the ministry deal with the nation's debt-ridden finances and still-fragile economy.
The advisers include Toyota Motor Corp. President Fujio Cho, Mitsubishi Corp. Chairman Minoru Makihara, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. President Yoshifumi Nishikawa and Yasuo Matsushita, ex-governor of the Bank of Japan.
The others are Nomura Holdings Inc. President Nobuyuki Koga, Tempstaff Co. President Yoshiko Shinohara and Hiroo Imura, professor emeritus at Kyoto University.
"We want to make the right decisions by discussing with those who know a lot about the real economy and absorbing the knowledge," Tanigaki told a regular news conference.
The ministry now faces a series of tasks -- to manage risks of ballooning government bond issues to supplement budgetary expenditures, and to slash such debts and reinvigorate the economy at the same time.
The ministry's foreign-exchange policy is another bone of contention, with Japan's recent massive yen-selling intervention in the currency market having drawn criticism overseas.
The ministry plans to hold the first meeting of advisers in April, Tanigaki said.