Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attended a Meeting of the Government and Ruling Parties at the Prime Minister's Office.

During the meeting, discussion was held on the FY2018 Guidelines for Budget Requests.

Based on the discussion, the Prime Minister said,

“The FY2018 budget is for the final fiscal year of the initial three-year period of the Plan for Economic and Fiscal Revitalization, namely the intensive reform period.

We will now further accelerate initiatives aimed at both economic and fiscal revitalization, under the basic policy of ‘there can be no fiscal soundness without economic revitalization.’

We will also establish the Framework for Promoting Priority Issues for a New Japan and identify priorities within the budget, in order to focus budget allocation in areas of priority for the Abe administration. These areas include investing in human resources to bring about a revolution in human resources development, as well as measures to improve the productivity of regional economies, small and medium-sized enterprises, and the service sector, among others.

The FY2018 Guidelines for Budget Requests are aligned with this policy, and I would like to ask for the extensive cooperation of the leadership of the ruling parties and relevant ministers. Thank you very much.”