A Finance Ministry advisory panel urged the government to delay the planned sale of its JPY 3 trillion stake (EUR 21.6 billion) in Japan Tobacco, Reuters reported.

The Fiscal System Council in an interim report said it would not be appropriate to sell the government's stake in the tobacco firm at the moment, the wire service said.
Revenue from the planned sale, a stake representing more than a third of the tobacco company, is to fund the cost of post-earthquake reconstruction.