TOKYO -- Japan is considering compiling a supplementary budget for the current fiscal year ending March 2003 in a bid to underpin the country's flagging economy, a report said Tuesday.

The extra budget is likely to focus on measures to support employment and small- and medium-sized firms, Japan's top selling daily ****Yomiuri Shimbun***** said, quoting government sources.

The paper did not say how big the budget would be.

According to an AFP report, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has been opposed to an extra budget because it would force him to abandon his promise to cap government bond issues at 30 trillion yen ($244 billion) annually.

The cap is part of Koizumi's reform drive to rein in national debt, which has exploded due to numerous other supplementary budgets over the past decade.

But some ministers and officials for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party have called for a supplementary budget as the Japanese economy remains depressed by deflation, banking bad loans and falling stock prices, the daily said.