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On December 20, 2018, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held the 17th 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 the new reform time schedule, a thematic topic of the Integrated Economic and Fiscal Reforms; countermeasures for the planned increase in the consumption tax rate; and the Fiscal 2019 Economic Outlook.
 
Based on the discussions, the Prime Minister said,
 
“Today is this year’s final meeting of the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy. First and foremost, I express my profound gratitude to all the council members for engaging in intensive deliberations throughout the year. Thank you very much.
 
Today, the council first finalized the reform time schedule to achieve the New Plan to Advance Economic and Fiscal Revitalization. There can be no fiscal consolidation without economic revitalization. The Abe Cabinet will vigorously navigate the waters of the Integrated Economic and Fiscal Reforms, with this time schedule as a nautical chart.
 
I would like Minister of State for Economic and Fiscal Policy Motegi to thoroughly review the progress and outcomes while implementing the PDCA cycle, and report the findings to the Council as the helmsman.
 
In addition, Minister Motegi reported to us on the countermeasures for the planned increase in the consumption tax rate. We also received a report from the Cabinet Office regarding the Fiscal 2019 Economic Outlook, which was recently approved by the Cabinet.
 
Looking ahead to the increase in the consumption tax rate in October 2019, it is important that we thoroughly carry out the countermeasures to level out any fluctuations in demand before and after the increase, and maintain the recovery trend in the economy.
 
To that end, I ask Minister Motegi to appropriately manage the progress and exert every effort for macroeconomic management.”