DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS 02/08/07

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 11 TOKYO 000580

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SUBJECT: DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS 02/08/07

INDEX:

(1) Poll on Abe cabinet, political parties, Yanagisawa's gaffe,
Kyuma's criticism of US Iraq policy

(2) LDP to strengthen measures to win "floating voters" based on
uphill battle in Aichi gubernatorial race

(3) Editorial: Don't easily make compromise for sake of success in
six-party talks

(4) Uruma City assembly resolves to protest against F-22 deployment

(5) Advisory panel suggests Japanese-version NSC draw up annual
foreign and security policy guidelines

(6) Bombing in Baghdad occurs in absence of Shiite militia;
Sectarian strife may further intensify

(7) US President Bush assuming low profile after dispatch of
additional troops to Iraq

(8) Potential uses of base land after reversion in Okinawa's
central, southern parts (Part 3): Futenma site utilization plan;
Process lacks reality; Young successors to landowners relate dreams
on Futenma airfield

(9) Economic forecast: How government officials map out projections
(part 1): Second-ranked in terms of accuracy rate, but only
temporarily?

ARTICLES:

(1) Poll on Abe cabinet, political parties, Yanagisawa's gaffe,
Kyuma's criticism of US Iraq policy

TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 2) (Full)
February 5, 2007

Questions & Answers
(Figures shown in%age. Parentheses denote the results of the last
survey conducted Jan. 12-13.)

Q: Do you support the Abe cabinet?

Yes 40.3 (45.0)
No 44.1 (38.9)
Don't know (D/K) + no answer (N/A) 15.6 (16.1)

Q: (Only for those who answered "yes" to the previous question)
What's the primary reason for your approval of the Abe cabinet? Pick
only one from among those listed below.

The prime minister is trustworthy
25.1 (28.2)
Because it's a coalition cabinet of the Liberal Democratic Party and
the New Komeito
5.6 (5.4)
The prime minister has leadership ability
2.1 (2.0)
Something can be expected of its economic policies
2.4 (5.0)
Something can be expected of its foreign policies

TOKYO 00000580 002 OF 011


15.5 (10.6)
Something can be expected of its political reforms
5.1 (4.6)
Something can be expected of its tax reforms
2.0 (2.8)
Something can be expected of its administrative reforms
4.3 (5.1)
There's no other appropriate person (for prime minister)
33.3 (33.6)
Other answers (O/A)
4.0 (0.8)
D/K+N/A
0.6 (1.9)

Q: (Only for those who answered "no" to the first question) What's
the primary reason for your disapproval of the Abe cabinet? Pick
only one from among those listed below.

The prime minister is untrustworthy
9.8 (10.7)
Because it's a coalition cabinet of the Liberal Democratic Party and
the New Komeito
5.5 (7.9)
The prime minister lacks leadership ability
30.4 (21.9)
Nothing can be expected of its economic policies
14.5 (17.9)
Nothing can be expected of its foreign policies
1.7 (2.8)
Nothing can be expected of its political reforms
10.7 (10.3)
Nothing can be expected of its tax reforms
4.5 (12.2)
Nothing can be expected of its administrative reforms
10.3 (3.4)
Don't like the prime minister's personal character
8.0 (5.7)
O/A
4.2 (1.5)
D/K+N/A
0.4 (5.7)

Q: Welfare and Labor Minister Yanagisawa's recent gaffe, in which he
called women "baby-making machines," is creating a stir in and
outside the Diet. Do you think he should resign to take
responsibility?

Yes 58.7
No 20.2
Can't say which 20.8
D/K+N/A 0.3

Q: In addition to Welfare and Labor Minister Yanagisawa's gaffe,
Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma criticized the United States. Do you
think Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has appropriately dealt with these
controversial remarks made by his cabinet ministers?

Yes 16.5
No 74.7
D/K+N/A 8.8

Q: It has been over four months since the Abe cabinet started. What
do you think about Prime Minister Abe's leadership?

TOKYO 00000580 003 OF 011



Up to expectations 16.2 (21.1)
Beyond expected 2.0 (1.2)
Short of expectations 42.8 (39.5)
No expectations from the start 34.5 (32.5)
D/K+N/A 4.5 (5.7)

Q: Do you trust politics now?

Yes 4.5
Yes to a certain extent 29.0
Not very much 42.5
No 23.3
D/K+N/A 0.7

Q: Would you like the LDP-led coalition government to continue, or
would you otherwise like it to be replaced with a DPJ-led coalition
government?

LDP-led coalition government 43.0 (47.8)
DPJ-led coalition government 33.5 (31.7)
D/K+N/A 23.5 (20.5)

Q: Which political party do you support?

Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) 35.1 (41.9)
Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ or Minshuto) 15.4 (15.4)
New Komeito (NK) 2.9 (4.4)
Japan Communist Party (JCP) 2.6 (3.9)
Social Democratic Party (SDP or Shaminto) 2.0 (1.9)
People's New Party (PNP or Kokumin Shinto) 0.5 (0.3)
New Party Nippon (NPN or Shinto Nippon) 0.1 (---)
Other political parties, groups --- (---)
None 39.8 (30.3)
D/K+N/A 1.6 (1.9)

Polling methodology: The survey was conducted Feb. 3-4 by Kyodo News
Service on a computer-aided random digit dialing (RDD) basis. Among
randomly generated telephone numbers, those actually for household
use with one or more eligible voters totaled 1,486. Answers were
obtained from 1,053 persons.

(2) LDP to strengthen measures to win "floating voters" based on
uphill battle in Aichi gubernatorial race

NIHON KEIZAI (Page 2) (Full)
February 8, 2008

With an eye on the April unified local elections and the July House
of Councillors election, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)
has launched a review of its election strategy. Based on the results
of the Aichi gubernatorial race and other local elections, the LDP
has determined that it needs to strengthen measures to capture
unaffiliated voters. It will look into issues of individual
electoral districts of the House of Representatives and focus on
those districts.

The candidate backed by the ruling parties narrowly won the Aichi
gubernatorial election on Feb. 4, which was held after the LDP was
shocked by the victory of Hideo Higashikokubaru in the Miyazaki
gubernatorial race, who won without support from any major political
parties. The ruling-coalition-backed candidate was faced a battle
that was tougher than the controversial remarks by Health, Labor and

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Welfare Minister Hakuo Yanagisawa would have suggested. And the
ruling coalition backed candidate was defeated (by a candidate
supported by opposition parties) in the Feb. 4 Kitakyushu mayoral
election.

LDP Secretary General Hidenao Nakagawa called seven Lower House
members, including Asahiko Mihara and Yosuke Shibata, whose
constituencies are in Kitakyushu City and Aichi Prefecture,
respectively, into his office in LDP headquarters. The number of
votes obtained by the ruling coalition's candidates in the
constituencies of the seven lawmakers were less than that secured by
the opposition backed candidates.

Nakagawa gave a pep talk to them: "Thinking of the unified local
elections and the Upper House election as your own, I want you to do
your best." He took the unusual move of demanding that they look
into what went wrong in their districts. He told the young
lawmakers: "I want you to try to find ways to capture nonaligned
voters."

The LDP has determined that the reason behind the uphill battle in
the Aichi race was that many unaffiliated voters distanced
themselves from the party. Nakagawa and LDP Upper House Caucus
Chairman Mikio Aoki on Feb. 5 came up with a strategy of securing
"floating voters" and confirmed a policy to dig up votes.

Regarding a strategy for the unified local elections, the party's
Election Strategy Headquarters Chief Yoshio Yatsu said: "It is
better for us not to bring polarizing national issues into the local
elections." The LDP has changed its existing policy and adopted one
of downplaying the confrontation between the ruling and opposition
camps as much as possible. Regarding the upcoming Kanagawa
gubernatorial election, the LDP plans not to give party
headquarters' endorsement to Tadashi Sugino, who has been
recommended by the LDP Kanagawa prefectural chapter and is running
against incumbent Kanagawa Governor Shigefumi Matsuzawa, a former
Lower House member belonging to Minshuto (Democratic Party of
Japan).

Schedule of upcoming major elections

Mar. 22
Starting date of official campaign for 13 gubernatorial elections -
Hokkaido, Iwate, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Fukui, Mie, Nara, Tottori,
Shimane, Tokushima, Fukuoka, Saga, and Oita.
April 5
Starting date of official campaign for Upper House by-elections for
Fukushima and Okinawa.
April 8
Voting day for the first half of unified local elections (including
13 gubernatorial races).
April 22
Voting day for the second half of unified local elections and for
Upper House by-elections for Fukushima and Okinawa.
July 5
(Scheduled) announcement of campaign for Upper House election
July 22
(Scheduled) voting day for Upper House election

(3) Editorial: Don't easily make compromise for sake of success in
six-party talks

SANKEI (Page 2) (Slightly abridged)

TOKYO 00000580 005 OF 011


February 8, 2007

The six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear ambitions will resume
in Beijing on Feb. 8. Since it has been reported that the United
States and North Korea were able to produce a certain level of
achievements in their preliminary talks in January, expectations
have been growing high for the coming six-party talks.

The other five nations must not make easy compromises with the North
in order to hastily bring about success only for form's sake. In
such a case, the result will only be allowing North Korea to buy
time to further develop nuclear weapons, eventually raising the
nuclear risk.

It is imperative for Japan to persist with the stance of neither
offering financial support nor lifting its sanctions unless progress
is made on the abduction issue. Kidnapping citizens in another
country is a grave problem that the government cannot compromise on.
If the government makes a compromise, it will inevitably lose public
confidence.

In the coming talks, the five countries reportedly aim to take
"measures at the first stage" toward the North's nuclear
dismantlement and later to phase in more measures. This idea is
somewhat odd.

A joint statement in September 2005 stipulated "the Korean Peninsula
should be free of nuclear arms in a verifiable way," and "North
Korea has promised to dismantle its nuclear weapons and nuclear
development programs."

In exchange for Pyongyang's dismantlement of its nuclear program,
the statement also noted that the United States would not launch a
military attack on the North and that the five members of the
six-party talks would promote economic cooperation to the North in
the energy, trade, and investment areas.

North Korea, however, easily broke the promise one year later. Last
October, it carried out its first nuclear test. Calling itself a
"nuclear power," the North has loudly called for greater
compensation.

The North did not observe the statement adopted in the six-party
talks, so it might be meaningless to continue the talks.

North Korea reportedly has demanded more than 500,000 tons of heavy
oil and the construction of light-water reactors. These demands are
similar to those made in the 1994 Agreed Framework between the US
and North Korea.

The Agreed Framework was canceled in the fall 2002 as North Korea
was found to have developed uranium-based nuclear weapons. We must
not make the same failure. In order to solicit a substantive
agreement with North Korea, it is necessary to prepare a mechanism
to guarantee an agreement.

As long as North Korea intends to possess nuclear weapons, it might
be necessary for the five nations to study the possibility of
discontinuing the six-party talks or referring the issue to the UN
Security Council.

(4) Uruma City assembly resolves to protest against F-22 deployment


TOKYO 00000580 006 OF 011


RYUKYU SHIMPO (Page 2) (Full)
February 8, 2007

URUMA, Okinawa-Uruma City's assembly, in its ad hoc sitting
yesterday, adopted a resolution and a statement unanimously,
protesting against the temporary deployment of F-22A Raptor jets,
which are state-of-the-art stealth fighters, to Kadena AIR Base and
against the takeoffs of F-15 fighters from the base during early
hours in early January.

In addition, the city assembly unanimously adopted another set of a
resolution and a statement to protest against US military paradrop
training conducted in a zone of training waters near Tsukenjima
Island on Jan. 16, another US military parachute drill carried out
at Kadena AIR Base on Jan. 26, and the US military's dumping of
ammunition and the like at Fukuji Dam and Arakawa Dam.

The protest resolutions will be addressed to the US ambassador to
Japan, the US Forces Japan commander, and others, and the statements
to the prime minister, defense minister, and others.

(5) Advisory panel suggests Japanese-version NSC draw up annual
foreign and security policy guidelines

NIHON KEIZAI (Page 2) (Full)
February 8, 2007

The Conference on Strengthening the Kantei's Functions Related to
Security, a government advisory panel chaired by Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe, has decided to incorporate in its final report due out
this month a proposal suggesting that the planned national security
council (Japanese-version NSC) should draw up annual foreign and
security policy guidelines. This suggestion stems from a desire to
demonstrate the nation's medium- to long-term basic strategy at home
and abroad. The prime minister and other key members will meet
regularly. With this, a close liaison system will be set up for
dealing with diplomatic and security issues.

The proposed policy guidelines will specify the role of the Japan-US
alliance in coping with the international situation and measures to
build peace, including those to promote nuclear nonproliferation. By
transmitting its basic policy stance to the rest of the world, the
government aims to strengthen ties with other countries. Draft
guidelines that will be worked out in accordance with the prime
minister's policy speech under the lead of the NSC executive office
will first be approved in its meeting and then adopted in a cabinet
meeting.

NSC key members will meet about twice a month in principle on a
regular basis. Since it will make it possible for the prime minister
to call a meeting based on his judgment, it will become possible to
swiftly take measures even in times of emergency. In regular
meetings, wide-ranging themes will be discussed, including energy,
climate change, bird flu, and national security issues.

The advisory panel has decided to reorganize the Security Council of
Japan into the Japanese version of the NSC. It is also close to
agreement on (1) designating the prime minister, the chief cabinet
secretary, the foreign minister, the defense minister, and the

SIPDIS
special advisor to the prime minister for national security as NSC
members; (2) allowing other cabinet ministers to join if the prime
minister gives approval; and (3) letting the eight cabinet ministers
who are members of the current security body join NSC meeting when

TOKYO 00000580 007 OF 011


the themes addressed in the body are discussed.

The advisory panel plans for the executive office to have 10 to 20
members, including some from the private sector, and to take the
lead in policy planning. The panel aims to finalize a draft of the
final report in a meeting today and release the final report on Feb.

27.

Following the announcement of the report, the government expects to
submit related bills, including a bill amending the NSC
Establishment Law, to the Diet by mid-March.

The current security panel, which has the prime minister and eight
cabinet ministers as regular members, specifies nine items,
including a basic national defense policy and the Defense Program
Outline, as topics for deliberations. The panel calls meetings on an
irregular basis to discuss these issues. But coordination on such
agenda items is made in prior negotiations. Given this, some have
pointed out that the panel has become an empty shell.

(6) Bombing in Baghdad occurs in absence of Shiite militia;
Sectarian strife may further intensify

ASAHI (Page 4) (Almost full)
February 5, 2007

Hajime Yoshioka, Cairo

"We must defend ourselves," said Shiite citizens standing near the
scene of a bomb attack that occurred in Baghdad on Feb. 3, erupting
with anger. The deadliest terrorism killed 135 persons in a single
attack, the largest since the opening of the Iraq war. Sunnis
attacked Shiites, taking advantage of the absence of the Shiite
Mahdi Army as a result of its stopping its activities under pressure
from US forces, which are redeploying to Baghdad. If US troops fail
to put a halt to terrorist acts, the Mahdi Army will again take
charge of maintaining security, making it more likely that the
sectarian strife will intensify even further.

The target of the attack this time was a busy market in Baghdad,
where people can buy vegetables, eggs, and meat cheap. Sunni
shoppers were seen in the market until last summer, but the market
is now visited only by Shiites because of the intensified sectarian
conflict.

This same market was also bombed last Dec. 12, which killed 54
persons and injured over 100. In order to restore security, the
Mahdi Army set up four checkpoints on highways leading to the
market. It banned access to the market by large trucks and doubled
its efforts to monitor suspicious individuals. No terrorism had
occurred until that day. According to a 32-year-old Mahdi Army
member whom the Asahi Shimbun interviewed on Feb. 4, the Mahdi Army
Headquarters instructed its members in mid-January to remove the
checkpoints, citing the possibility that the Mahdi Army might be
attacked by US troops, who were being deployed again to Baghdad.

Deeming the Mahdi Army a threat exceeding that of Al Qaeda, US
forces announced that they would go forward with a full-fledged
cleanup operation. In fact, they have held 600 Mahdi militiamen and
senior Mahdi officers in custody. The Mahdi Army's leader, cleric
al-Sadr, instructed his militiamen not to carry weapons and ordered
other leading members to flee the country.


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After the removal of the checkpoints, no measures other than
patrolling by Iraqi security forces had been taken by the Iraqi
government and US troops. Mahdi militiamen, while continuing
monitoring activities in the market, were worried that an act of
terror might occur, given large trucks' free access to the market.
In the Shiite district after the Mahdi Army left, armed Sunni forces
have repeatedly conducted bombings. According to Reuters, 70 persons
were killed in one bomb attack on Jan. 16, 88 persons in another on
Jan. 22, and 61 in another on Feb. 1.

The Mahdi Army member said, "We have the right to defend our
families and towns. Neither US troops nor the Iraqi government has
the capability or will to do so. We can't wait any longer." A senior
Mahdi Army officer, 30, also commented: "We are waiting for Grand
Ayatollah al-Sadr to give us orders."

(7) US President Bush assuming low profile after dispatch of
additional troops to Iraq

ASAHI (Page 4) (Full)
February 5, 2007

Yoshiyuki Komurata, Washington

US President George W. Bush on Feb. 3 attended the House Democratic
Caucus Issues Conference in Williamsburg and sought understanding
for his dispatch of additional troops to Iraq.

Being aware that the battle in Congress is intensifying over his
Iraq policy, Bush sought cooperation in a more humble manner than
ever in the meeting. Democrats, however, are unlikely to stop
raising objections.

Bush remained provocative until the midterm election last fall,
criticizing the Democratic Party's Iraq policy as "something like a
dog sneaking away with its tail between its legs." But that day,
Bush was different. He asked for cooperation: "Even in wartime, I
welcome debate. Even though you may happen not to agree with me,
both of us are patriotic."

Speaking before House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats, Bush
highlighted points of agreement with the speaker, noting: "The Iraqi
government needs to show its leadership."

(8) Potential uses of base land after reversion in Okinawa's
central, southern parts (Part 3): Futenma site utilization plan;
Process lacks reality; Young successors to landowners relate dreams
on Futenma airfield

RYUKYU SHIMPO (Page 2) (Full)
February 2, 2007

US military transport planes are buzzing with heavy sounds in their
approach to Futenma airfield, or the US Marine Corps' Futenma AIR
Station. Right under their approach path from the airfield's
southern end is a populated area stretching across a small hill. On
the hilltop is the residence of Kevin Maher, US consul general in
Okinawa.

Maher said: "Helicopters are flying right over my house, too. I know
well about the concerns of local residents." He then underscored the
advantages of realigning US forces in Japan, maintaining that the US
military's realignment will work in the interests of people in

TOKYO 00000580 009 OF 011


Okinawa as well. However, he reiterated that the United States could
not close down or return Futenma airfield until an alternative
facility is completed.

Ginowan City and Okinawa Prefecture are now working together to
create an "action program," which will show a phased schedule to
create a land utilization plan for the site of Futenma airfield. On
Jan. 25, Okinawa Prefecture and Ginowan City held a second meeting
of their study committee, in which they confirmed the process of
working out the land utilization plan at least three or four years
before the year Futenma airfield will be returned.

According to an intergovernmental agreement on the US military's
realignment, a replacement for Futenma airfield will be completed by
2014, and Futenma airfield's functions will be secured at the
alternative facility. After that, Futenma airfield will be closed
down and returned. Calculating back from that year, Okinawa
Prefecture and Ginowan City will have to work out their land
utilization plan by 2010. To do so, their authorities need to enter
the base for an environment assessment. However, that is still
infeasible.

The study committee explained the process of utilizing the site of
Futenma airfield after its return into local hands. However, the
committee's explanation is still unconvincing. "I couldn't see it
clearly," said Seizen Hanashiro, chairman of the Ginowan City
Military Landowners' Association.

Osamu Yamakawa, deputy chief of headquarters for military base land
utilization at the Okinawa prefectural government office, is in
charge of planning base land reutilization. In his impression,
however, it is "unclear" when Futenma will be returned.

It has been more than 10 years since the Japan-US Special Action
Committee on Facilities and Areas in Okinawa (SACO) agreed to return
Futenma airfield. Japan and the United States have now agreed to
relocate Futenma airfield to another site in the process of
realigning US forces in Japan. However, Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu
Nakaima is opposed to the government's current relocation plan. The
issue of relocating Futenma airfield has seen little progress in the
past rounds of consultations between Tokyo and Okinawa. What lies
ahead for Futenma airfield's return? That is still murky.

"What's the concept for this large-scale park?" "How about the image
of water with the underground limestone cave?" In December last
year, a number of local residents gathered after work and began
brainstorming in their periodic meeting. They are members of a group
of young people thinking about how to reuse the site of Futenma
airfield after it is returned and vacated.

The group, led by Masahiko Okawa, started in 2003 as a gathering of
Futenma airfield landowners' children and grandchildren. They meet
once every month to discuss urban planning for the site of Futenma
airfield after its return. The group has so far set forth opinions
in two reports. Last year, its members visited base-hosting
localities in mainland prefectures.

The average age of landowners is over 60. With their aging, the next
generation, including their young successors, will be entrusted with
the actual uses of their landed properties on Futenma airfield after
its return. "I don't know yet when Futenma will come back," Okawa
said. "But," he added, "we want to prepare ourselves now so we don't
have to be confused when the site is really back into our hands."

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Envisioning the future return of Futenma airfield, Okawa and his
group are working for their dreams on the site of Futenma airfield
that is as large as 480 hectares.

(9) Economic forecast: How government officials map out projections
(part 1): Second-ranked in terms of accuracy rate, but only
temporarily?

NIHON KEIZAI (Page 5) (Full)
February 8, 2007

When the government or the Bank of Japan (BOJ) maps out economic
policies, they do so based on public projections of future economic
trends, population and so on. Their projections are highly
important. And yet it is difficult for outsiders to see how
government offices or the BOJ actually compile economic projections.
This newspaper looked into how they make economic forecasts.

One public economic forecast has a high degree of accuracy, with its
accuracy rate coming second, even including 18 private research
organs.

That forecast is unexpectedly the government's economic forecast for
the coming year, which it releases every December. According to a
survey by the Nikkei Research Center of the average degree of
accuracy of forecasts for real growth for fiscal 2000 through fiscal
2004, the government forecasts came second among 18 research
organs.

The Cabinet Office is responsible for compiling this government
outlook, taking views of various government agencies into
consideration. It releases forecasts for a real growth rate, prices
and the unemployment rate. These are key figures in forecasting tax
revenues for the next year.

Lower-ranked in 1990s

Asked about the high degree of accuracy, one senor Cabinet Office
official said: "We do not have any know-how to raise the degree of
accuracy. All we do is to elaborately analyze various statistics and
make forecasts." An expert in the private sector said: "We must not
take the real potential of economists belonging to government
agencies lightly."

One Cabinet Office official said, "To be honest, the accuracy rate
of government forecasts was low up until the second half of the
1990s." According to the Nikkei Center, the government's economic
forecasts for fiscal 1982 through fiscal 1989 ranked ninth among 18
institutions. In the 1990s, the degree of accuracy of the
government's forecast slipped close to the bottom of 17
institutions. That was because the government's economic forecasts
of those days had a strong nature of being a target for the
management of economic policy. The government's forecasts at the
time were often far removed from projections made by the private
sector with calculations of various government agencies, including
the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (now the Ministry
of Economy, Trade and Industry),which insisted on setting high
growth rates as a target, intertwined in a complicated way.

Taichi Sakaiya (71),who served as director general of the economic
planning agency (now the Cabinet Office) from 1998 through 2000,
drastically changed the method of compiling forecasts. Deeply
dissatisfied with the way government forecasts were mapped out, he

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right after assuming the post ordered working-level officials to
correctly make forecasts instead of giving a false impression to the
public by setting an elevated target. The accuracy rate of the
government's forecasts ended up second as a result of excluding as
much as possible their nature of being a policy target.

Rising-tide policy affecting forecasts

However, the government's forecasts are showing signs of going back
to the old days of being a policy target due to the Abe
administration's rising-tide policy of aiming at achieving high
growth.

State Minister for Economic and Fiscal Policy Hiroko Ota (53) led
the drafting of the government's forecasts for fiscal 2007.
Working-level officials of the Cabinet Office proposed that setting
an outlook for real growth over 1% was appropriate, but Ota
undertook coordination of views making some concessions with METI,
which insisted on real growth of over 2%.

The government's outlook for fiscal 2007, which Ota presented at a
meeting of the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy on Dec. 20 last
year, carried forecasts for a real growth rate of 2.0% and a nominal
growth rate of 2.2%.

The average forecast for real growth for fiscal 2007 of 35 private
research organs tallied by the Economic Planning Association is
1.92%. The government's outlook is higher by 0.08 point. The
government's outlook will likely waver back and forth, caught
between the pursuit of accuracy and its role as setting a policy
target.

SCHIEFFER