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On May 28, 2018, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held the seventh meeting in 2018 of the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy at the Prime Minister’s Office.
 
At the meeting, discussions were held on the Integrated Economic and Fiscal Reforms (target year and attitude to achieve primary balance surplus) and the Outline of the Basic Policy.
 
Based on the discussion, the Prime Minister said,
 
“Today, we discussed firstly the attitude to achieve primary balance surplus, followed by the Outline of the Basic Policy.
 
To achieve a primary balance surplus, it is necessary to consolidate the foundation of sustainable economic and fiscal policies, focusing on social security reform, in the three years leading up to FY2022, when the baby boomer generation turns 75 years or older. Council members from the private sector spoke about at when we should set the surplus target and how we link this surplus target with the formulation of the budget for each fiscal year, by evaluating the progress of these initiatives. There was also a proposal to put in place temporary special measures in the initial budgets for FY2019 and FY2020 to address rush demand and reactionary decrease in response to the consumption tax increase in October 2019.  
 
Based on the discussions today, I would like Minister Motegi to prepare a concrete proposal so that we can compile the Basic Policy next month.”