Heizo Takenaka, the architect of policy changes credited with securing Japan's longest postwar economic expansion, blasted the Democratic Party of Japan-led government for undermining prospects for recovery.
"The government is taking a small step forward and a big step backward," Takenaka, who served in Cabinet posts including economy minister from 2001 to 2005, said in an interview last week. "My biggest concern is that they don't have any overarching economic policies to bolster growth."
Takenaka's criticism reflects concern among some economists that Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's plans to support households may do little to spur the recovery while swelling the world's largest public debt. Japanese stocks have lagged behind a global rally because the ruling DPJ hasn't said how it will tackle fiscal woes and sustain growth, Takenaka said.