TOKYO (AFX) - A Japanese panel chaired by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi plans to drop the economic growth target of 1.7 pct for this year and warn of growth of only 0.5 pct for up to three years, the Asahi Shimbun reported Saturday. The government's Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy plans to announce the new forecast when it releases reform policy guidelines in late June, the newspaper said.
The panel would then drop the official growth target of 1.7 pct for the current financial year to March 2002, it said. The council also expects the number of jobless people will increase by some 150,000-200,000 as the government pushes ahead with structural reform such as the disposal of bad loans held by banks, it said.