Japan to stick to primary budget surplus goal - Finance Minister Suzuki

FILE PHOTO: Japan's Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki wearing a protective face mask delivers his policy speech during the start of an extraordinary session of the lower house of the parliament, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Tokyo, Japan December 6, 2021. REUTERS/Issei Kato

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan will stick to its aim of achieving primary budget surplus in fiscal 2025 and it is important to continue efforts on fiscal reform, Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said on Friday.

Asked if heavy spending to fight the COVID-19 pandemic may force the government to give up on the target, Suzuki said: "There's no need to change it."

Suzuki was speaking to reporters after the cabinet approved a record $940 billion budget for the new fiscal year from April.

(Reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto; Editing by Himani Sarkar)

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