JAPAN

Change in Recession-Fighting Plan Reported: A Ministry of International Trade and Industry council will recommend that Japan water down regulations designed to prevent excess concentration within industrial sectors, the Nihon Keizai newspaper reported. The measure, cited in an unpublished mid-term paper from the Industrial Structure Council, is intended to help Japan combat recession, the newspaper said. The proposed reforms aim to relax standards that the Fair Trade Commission uses to gauge corporate rationalization levels in line with recommendations in a forthcoming government economic reform panel report, it said.