[Provisional translation]
On February 24, 2026, Prime Minister Takaichi held the second meeting of the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy in 2026 at the Prime Minister’s Office.
At the meeting, the participants engaged in discussions on macroeconomic management (intensive deliberations on monetary policy, prices, and other matters) and innovation (startups, university reforms, and other matters).
The Prime Minister stated as follows based on the discussions:
“Today, we held an exchange of views on macroeconomic management as well as the promotion of innovation such as startups and university reforms.
We will sever the trends of excessive austerity and underinvestment in the future and make bold ‘strategic investments that enhance resilience against potential crises’ and ‘investments that promote growth’ through public-private collaboration, thereby building a ‘strong economy.’
We will fundamentally overhaul the way the national budget is created. We will make a clean break from our current budget formulation process in which it is assumed that a supplementary budget will be compiled each fiscal year; we will instead allocate all necessary funds within the initial budget, to the extent possible.
At the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy, please further deepen discussions on the vision and specific measures for ‘responsible and proactive public finances,’ including the appropriate approach to the budget formulation, toward the compilation of the Basic Policy.
Innovation holds importance in bringing a ‘strong economy’ into reality.
To this end, we received proposals from the experts such as:
• Making systematic budget allocations for basic research, including KAKENHI (Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research) and securing operational grants that reflect rising prices and personnel costs, coupled with the promotion of university reforms;
• Strengthening measures to attract private investments by clarifying the Government’s medium- to long-term commitment, including to the research and development of advanced technologies, such as dual-use technologies;
• With a view to building a “startup ecosystem,” achieving at an early date the 3 percent target for the share of startups in public procurement and aiming for even higher levels;
• Examining the effectiveness of Japan’s angel taxation system, identifying and removing its bottlenecks, and discussing a mechanism to attract funds from venture capital and so forth.
I ask Minister Onoda to take today’s discussions into account, work together with Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology and other relevant ministers to start by proceeding with the formulation of the 7th ‘Science, Technology, and Innovation Basic Plan,’ with the aim of developing a ‘new kind of technology-driven nation.’
I request that Minister Kiuchi take into account today’s discussions, collaborate with Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry and Minister of State for Financial Services, enhance the ‘Startup Development Five-year Plan,’ and speed up the social implementation of cutting-edge technologies.
The Takaichi Cabinet will redouble its efforts to make Japan a world-leading hub of intellectual creation and innovation. I also ask the experts to continue providing active discussion. Thank you.”
