Japan FinMin Omi denies tabloid report on budget

TOKYO, Dec 26 (Reuters) Japanese Finance Minister Koji Omi today denied a report by a tabloid magazine alleging he had influenced funding for a pet project in next year's budget.

The Shukan Shincho magazine said Omi had suggested that a group of experts managing a new university on Japan's southern island of Okinawa seek more funds for the institution in the year starting April 1.

Omi said he used to be an observer member of the group but quit after he became finance minister in September.

''It is not true that I intentionally used my power as the finance minister to allocate more spending on the project,'' Omi told a news conference when asked about the article.

''I hope there won't be any misunderstanding on that.'' The project to set up the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology was announced in 2001, when Omi was minister of state in charge of Okinawa affairs and science and technology policy.

The report comes as support for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his cabinet is slipping, partly because of perceptions that he is returning to the old-fashioned vested-interest politics that were challenged by his predecessor, reformist Junichiro Koizumi.

Abe has seen his support fall from 71 percent when he took office in September to 51 percent in November, according to a survey by the Nihon Keizai business daily published yesterday.

Other surveys have shown a similar trend, with several putting his current support rate below 50 per cent.

Also, the government's top spokesman said today that Administrative Reform Minister Genichiro Sata was looking into reports that a group of his political supporters had submitted false information to the government claiming nearly 80 million yen (675,000 dollars) in expenses from 1990 to 2000 for an office that did not exist.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki told a news conference it could take some time for Sata to come up with the facts because of the time span involved, but he urged the minister to explain the matter to the public as soon as possible.

Reuters DKA DB1004