Japan's Tsuda:Need careful consideration about SWF

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TOKYO, July 3 (Reuters) - Japanese Vice Finance Minister Hiroki Tsuda said on Thursday Japan must very carefully consider the establishment of a sovereign wealth fund -- an idea floated by some ruling party lawmakers.

"If you pursue higher profits, that would involve risks," Tsuda told a news conference. "If that incurred losses, the people would have to bear the burden in the worst case."

A ruling party panel, inspired by sovereign wealth funds in Asia, the Middle East and Norway, called for creation of a 10 trillion yen ($94.3 billion) fund in Japan using public pension funds to seek higher returns to contribute to the state coffers. Tsuda will step down as part of an annual personnel reshuffle and be replaced by Kazuyuki Sugimoto, the head of the ministry's budget bureau, who will head up the ministry from Friday. (Reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto; Editing by Chris Gallagher)