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Japan PM rejects

new economic

minister post

TOKYO: Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama rejected the idea of creating a new cabinet portfolio in charge of overall economic policy, Jiji news agency reported.

"I am not thinking of creating (such a post)," Jiji quoted Murayama as saying.

Jiji also quoted Chief Cabinet Secretary Kozo Igarashi separately as saying the creation of such a post had been postponed.

Key cabinet ministers had already basically rejected the idea, which had been floated as a possible portfolio for Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Secretary-General Yoshiro Mori.

"It is up to the prime minister to decide who will take which cabinet post, but we should not create a new post just for a specific person," Economic Planning Agency minister Masahiko Komura told a news conference.

Finance Minister Masayoshi Takemura, already set to keep his own cabinet seat, was also lukewarm.

Asked about setting up a new post within the cabinet to handle economic measures, Takemura told a news conference he understood the idea but added that setting up the post would make responsibility for economic management less clear.

"I'm not an advocate of this," he said.-Reuter