The Diet enacted key legislation Friday that lays out a timetable for Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's efforts to reform and slim down the government over the next several years.
The bill easily cleared the Upper House, where the ruling coalition, the Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito, holds a majority.
The bill aims to create a "simple and efficient government" by cutting the state's heavy debts and reducing the size of state-held assets.
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