It could seek an emergency addition to the 1993 budget, a tactic that was used for the President's economic-stimulus package, which was blocked in the Senate.

Mr. Dodd replied that he would seek an economic-stimulus package to create jobs, including a targeted investment-tax credit to help businesses.

First, Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto included an unexpected, one-time $15 billion income tax cut in an economic-stimulus package.

One set of options, Mr. Reich said, concerns whether there should be an economic-stimulus package to jump start the economy, if need be, in January.

The income-tax cut appeared to be a last-minute embellishment of an economic-stimulus package that the governing Liberal Democratic Party has been working on for some time.

The downgrading came the day after Japan announced one of the biggest economic-stimulus packages on record, pledging to spend $195 billion to invigorate the economy.

Just how challenging getting to that agenda will be was illustrated last week when Senate Republicans killed Mr. Clinton's economic-stimulus package.

Talk of a Japanese economic-stimulus package helped the dollar overnight and, in turn, lifted bonds at the opening.

Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, on the eve of the Washington meetings, came up with a broad economic-stimulus package, said to total $35 billion.

But a fight is already brewing in the Cabinet over what shape an economic-stimulus package will take.