TOKYO (AFX-ASIA) - Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said he expects to face strong opposition from within his own ruling coalition when the government tries to compile a reformist budget for the year to March 2003.
However, he added that he is ready to defend the principles that he set out as part of his blueprint for economic and fiscal restructuring, aiming to tackle conflicts of interest between the ministries and politicians.
Koizumi was speaking just before leaving for Washington, where he will attend a summit meeting with U.S. President George W Bush and is expected to face strong pressure to push ahead with his restructuring plans.
"I think there will be strong opposition from the ruling coalition parties when the goverment tries to compile the next fiscal year's budget in a way that realises the structural reform policy," Koizumi said.
"However, I myself will act to resolve conflicts of interest between ministries and the parties, protecting the government's basic policies from opposition forces," he said.
"We have to cut government spending below that of the previous fiscal year's level," he added.
"We will begin deciding rules for budget requests from each ministry, to avoid raising taxes and to contain bond issuance within 30 trln yen, immediately after the Upper House election (in July)," Koizumi said.