Japan to revise financial goals

TOKYO, June 9 (UPI) -- The government of Japan has pushed back its goals of reaching a primary balance surplus by 2011 for 10 years, sources close to the discussions said Tuesday.

The Tokyo government also revised its goal of cutting in half the ratio of the primary balance deficit to the country's gross domestic product, Kyodo News reported.

The new goal is to halve the ratio by March 2014.

The primary balance refers to government expenses excluding debt serving costs.

The previous goals were set by former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. But government economic stimulus spending to counter the recession has derailed the earlier benchmarks, Kyodo said.