Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held the second meeting of the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy of 2014 at the Prime Minister's Office.
During the meeting, debate took place on "intensive discussion related to monetary policy, commodity prices and other issues" and "efforts for the promotion of long-term investment."
Based on the discussion, the Prime Minister said in his address,
"In order to realize a positive cycle of the economy, increases in corporate profits must lead to higher wages and greater employment.
The spring wage offensive has finally started, and I hope employers and employees make efforts to raise wages. I would like to carefully confirm the results of those efforts in this Council.
With regard to the effective corporate tax rate, we have received a timely report from private sector members on the relationship between corporate tax and tax revenue.
Additionally, I would like to thank everyone for the wide range of proposals received on such issues as the necessity of long-term funding, the fostering of investors, and the expansion of market functions.
Minister Amari has compiled future issues for this Council. We need to address these issues and should resolve them by 2020 in order to realize a Japanese economy that is full of vitality over the long-term. I would like this Council to continue discussions while collaborating with the Industrial Competitiveness Council."