TOKYO (AFX-ASIA) - State Minister for Economic and Fiscal Policy Heizo Takenaka said Japan cannot avoid negative growth for the year to March 2002, adding that the economic situation is becoming severe after the Sept 11 attacks on the US. "There is a possibility that US GDP growth will be negative in the third and fourth quarters," Takenaka told a regular briefing. "It is unavoidable that Japanese GDP growth will also become negative." He declined to comment on any likely GDP figure, though he reiterated that the data will not be very different from existing forecasts by private institutions. The government cannot assess the negative impact from the Sept 11 attacks in the US, Takenaka said, citing differing opinions among US officials. "I keep discussing the matter with US officials but their opinions about the outlook for the economy are still divided. It is still difficult to assess the impact from the attack on Japan," he said. The government's Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy will discuss the planned supplementary budget, Takenaka said, adding: "Today's meeting will be the important one." The meeting will also discuss economic conditions but will not consider any effect from the Sept 11 attacks on the supplementary budget. "It is almost impossible to predict the outlook after the September 11 attacks," he said. "At today's meeting we will finalise issues related to employment." Overall, the government will continue its flexible stance toward the launch of the supplementary budget to cope with the impact from the attacks on the US, Takenaka added.