Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's waste-cutting panel finished its nine-day review of allocations Nov. 27 for 447 public works projects in the government's record-high ¥95 trillion budget for fiscal 2010.

By Nov. 27, the panel had recommended budget cuts totaling nearly ¥750 billion and demanded the return of a further ¥1.05 trillion in reserve funds to the government's general account.

Hatoyama said he needs to consider those recommendations "very seriously," although he might have to make political decisions on some parts of the proposed cuts.

Hatoyama's administration aims to trim the 2010 budget by ¥3 trillion or more.