Striking a fine balance between economic countermeasures and long-term fiscal reconstruction should be a key government goal, newly appointed Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano said Thursday.
"We have not abandoned fiscal reconstruction," Yosano said in a joint interview with The Japan Times and other media organizations. "Both (economic stimulus and fiscal reconstruction) have to be compatible."
Yosano has long been known as an advocate of fiscal austerity and tax hikes for rebuilding the nation's deficit-ridden finances. But he emphasized that maintaining both goals at once should be Japan's priority.