Japan ruling party's Aso: Economy in a recession

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TOKYO, Aug 5 (Reuters) - The secretary-general of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party said on Tuesday that he thought the nation's economy had entered a recession.

"I don't feel it so much in Tokyo, but when I go to the regions I get the feeling that the economy is in a recession," Taro Aso told reporters in a group interview.

Aso added that shifting the government's 2011/12 fiscal target for achieving a "primary balance" was one option Japan should consider.

The government has aimed at getting the primary balance -- the budget balance excluding debt servicing and issuance -- into the black in fiscal 2011/12 as part of efforts to rein in Japan's huge fiscal deficit, which is running at roughly 1-½ times gross domestic product. (Reporting by Chisa Fujioka; Editing by Hugh Lawson)