Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama accepted Wednesday Finance Minister Hirohisa Fujii's resignation and made Deputy Prime Minister Naoto Kan the successor, Xinhua reported.
Hatoyama said Kan was picked for his knowledge of the financial year 2010 budget. Kan said he already accepted Hatoyama's offer of the post.
Fujii, 77, was admitted to hospital in late December complaining of exhaustion. His resignation meant that there are very few experienced lawmakers for senior positions in Hatoyama's Cabinet.
Fujii was key to the government's announcement in late December of a 92.3 trillion yen (1 trillion dollar) budget, which the government had struggled to write amid deflation and a weak economy.
In his job, Fujii was charged last year with trying to balance the troubled economy with the Democratic Party of Japan campaign pledging to eliminate wasteful spending on huge public works projects and launch schemes that will benefit the average Japanese.