TOKYO (AFX-ASIA) - State Minister for Economic and Fiscal Policy Heizo Takenaka said data have been positive since the last Cabinet Office monthly economic report, indicating a possible upgrade in the latest assessment. "There have been further improvements in the economic indicators released since last month," Takenaka told a routine briefing, a day ahead of the publication of the Cabinet Office's lastest economic report. "We would like to evaluate these in the monthly economic report tomorrow." The office upgraded its assessment of the economy in March for the first time since June 2000, saying exports were bottoming out and industrial production was showing signs of reaching a trough. Meanwhile, Takenaka said members of the government's Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy will hold a meeting on April 16 to discuss the outcome of the Financial Services Agency's special inspections into major banks. Minister of Financial Affairs Hakuo Yanagisawa, who heads the FSA, will attend the meeting, he said, but added that the agency has so far maintained its stance that it is unnecessary to inject public money into the banks. "A public-fund injection is one way to cut bad debt," Takenaka said, but added: "We should not focus on one specific way of considering bad debt." He added that he has not heard anything about the outcome of the special inspections from the FSA yet, simply saying: "I have heard that the FSA's inspection is very strict."