Tokyo, March 8 (Bloomberg) -- Japanese Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa saidthe government's finances are close to collapse and in urgent need of reform, thestarkest warning yet by a government official of the fragile state of the economy. Miyazawa's remarks also suggest the government can't afford to keep throwingmoney at the economy to shore up growth. Ten years of building roads, airportsand bridges has left Japan lumbered with a debt that's expected to reach 666trillion yen ($5.6 trillion), or about 130 percent of gross domestic product, byMarch next year. The government's finances are ``abnormal,'' Miyazawa told a parliamentarycommittee. ``We must conduct fiscal reform.'' The yen fell to a 20-month lowafter Miyazawa spoke. Swelling government debt has already cost Japan its ``AAA'' credit rating fromStandard & Poor's and Moody's Investors Service. S&P last month strippedJapan of its top-notch rating, which it had held for 26 years. Japan became the world's biggest debtor in 1999. The yen fell to 120.26 to the dollar, its lowest since July 1999. It was recentlytrading at 120.18. The benchmark Nikkei 225 stock index fell 0.7 percent to12,632.18, and 10-year bond yields rose 2.5 basis points to 1.16 percent. Miyazawa and other ministers have said the government will start discussions ofhow to reduce its debt within a year, after the government drafts a model ofJapan's macroeconomic growth in coming years. Miyazawa has said Japanese taxpayers must pay higher social welfare costs ifthey want to keep receiving high-level health care and other public services.