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On June 5, 2018, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held the eighth meeting of the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy in 2018 at the Prime Minister’s Office.
 
At the meeting, a discussion was held on accepting new foreign personnel, and the draft Basic Policy.  
 
Based on the discussion, the Prime Minister said,
 
“Today, firstly, we received a report on the reviews conducted by Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga and Minister Kamikawa on the acceptance of foreign personnel.
 
Labor shortage is becoming an increasingly serious issue, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises in local districts. For this reason, there is an urgent need to establish a system for accepting a wide range of foreign personnel who have specific expertise and skills, and can be of immediate help. The draft Basic Policy that was presented today clearly sets forth the creation of a new category of residence status, as a matter separate from immigration policies. I would like the two ministers to work with the ruling parties and devote every effort towards a Cabinet decision.
 
Secondly, we held discussions on the draft of the Basic Policy.
 
In the Basic Policy this year, I would like to indicate that we will mobilize all policies, while giving the utmost priority to the human resource development revolution and the productivity revolution, in order to raise our potential growth rate towards achieving sustainable economic growth.
 
Furthermore, as we raise the consumption tax rate in October 2019, we aim to respond flexibly in order to minimize any economic fluctuations as far as possible.
 
We will firmly adhere to our basic philosophy that there can be no fiscal consolidation without economic revitalization, and aim to realize a surplus in the primary balance for the national and local governments by FY2025 so as to solidify our path towards fiscal consolidation by the time all the baby-boomers turn 75 years or older.
 
I would like Minister Motegi to work together with the ruling parties and make every effort for the approval of the Basic Policy by a Cabinet decision.”