Press Conference by the Prime Minister on the 2024 Noto Peninsula Earthquake

[Provisional translation]

We held the fourth meeting of the Emergency Headquarters this morning, and I gave instructions to conduct tenacious and thorough rescue activities without giving up and to swiftly confirm the situation of isolated communities and whereabouts of the unaccounted-for under collaboration between the relevant organizations and local governments. I also gave directions to further promote the support for the affected area, such as by putting every effort into the recovery of transportation routes and speeding up push-type support, while drawing up a package to support the lives and livelihoods of the affected people based on the needs of the quake-stricken area as soon as possible, in order to rebuild the lives of those affected. In addition, I instructed the Minister of Finance on the draft budget for the next fiscal year before noon. We will first seek to utilize the remaining reserve funds for the fiscal 2023 budget, which is worth over 460 billion yen, while we have included 500 billion yen in general reserve funds for the fiscal 2024 budget. However, in light of the future need for seamless response toward the reconstruction and recovery from the 2024 Noto Peninsula Earthquake, I instructed the Finance Minister to swiftly formulate a revised plan for the fiscal 2024 draft budget, which was approved by the Cabinet on December 22 last year, so that it will reflect necessary changes, such as an increase in reserve funds, and to move ahead with procedures to obtain a Cabinet approval on the revision in collaboration with the ruling parties. As Prime Minister, I will take the lead in making efforts while staying close to the affected area and people, so that residents in the quake-hit area will regain their peaceful lives.