TOKYO (The Japan News) — A panel advising the finance minister on Monday stressed the importance of fiscal reconstruction, saying that the government should not “feel complacent” amid the current low interest rate environment in the country.

The Fiscal System Council made the point in a set of proposals regarding the government’s coming work to draft its budget for fiscal 2020, which starts next April.

Sadayuki Sakakibara, chairman of the council and former head of the Japan Business Federation (Keidanren), submitted the proposals to Finance Minister Taro Aso the same day.

The very low domestic interest rates, reflecting the Bank of Japan’s ultraeasy monetary policy, help the state curb interest payments on Japanese government bonds and work to prevent its debts from increasing sharply as a result.

But the council said, “The state can reap benefits of low interest rates only if it gains credibility in its fiscal condition,” calling on the government to stick to its goal of turning around the country’s primary budget balance in fiscal 2025 even on the assumption that the low rate environment would continue.

On swelling social security costs, the panel stressed the need to implement measures such as raising patients’ out-of-pocket pharmaceutical expenses and introducing a system to require outpatients to pay a fixed-amount fee on top of their medical bills.

Based on the proposals, the Finance Ministry will start full-fledged work to compile a fiscal 2020 draft budget toward the end of next month.

Still, it is unclear how much of the panel’s proposals will be reflected in the draft budget, as the Liberal Democratic Party-led ruling coalition is increasingly urging the government to secure a large amount of funds for a planned economic stimulus package, analysts said.