[Provisional Translation]

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held the seventh meeting in 2017 of the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy at the Prime Minister's Office.

At the meeting, there were concentrated deliberations held on monetary policy, commodity prices, and other issues, as well as discussion held on the administrative and fiscal reform of local governments.

Based on the discussion, the Prime Minister said,

"Today, firstly we held concentrated deliberations on monetary policy, commodity prices, and other issues.

We must increase wages in lockstep with rising commodity prices to overcome deflation and achieve the sustainable and robust growth of the economy. This year's spring employer-employee negotiations saw the continuation of the wage hike trends of the previous three years, with many companies raising wages across the board for the fourth consecutive year. I would like this trend to extend to small- and medium-sized enterprises, too, so that we can realize wage hikes broadly across the working population.

Secondly, we discussed the administrative and fiscal reform of local governments.

We heard the views of private sector members that we should thoroughly analyze the disparities in the administrative and financial services of different local governments and sources of inefficiencies, and encourage accountability among local governments. Furthermore, we heard that we should strengthen efforts to roll out best practices and reinforce the management of regional public enterprises.

I ask that Minister Takaichi take the lead in thoroughly analyzing the actual state of funds and individual programs being implemented in regions, while taking into account the opinions of private sector members. Moreover, I would like you to accelerate the administrative and fiscal reform of local governments, including the reform of regional public enterprises."