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On January 18, 2019, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held the first meeting of the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy in 2019, at the Prime Minister’s Office.
 
At the meeting, a discussion was held on the achievements in six years of the Abe Cabinet and the future agenda for the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy.
 
Based on the discussion, the Prime Minister said,
 
“Today, on the occasion of this year’s first meeting of the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy, we welcome Prof. Takemori and Prof. Yanagawa as new expert members of the Council. I would also like to ask Mr. Nakanishi and Mr. Niinami to continue to serve as expert members. Together with the ministers, I would like to vigorously advance various policies with this Council of qualified members as the control tower of economic and fiscal policies of my Cabinet.
 
Today, we reviewed the achievements of the economic and fiscal policies over the last six years—the so-called Abenomics, and then discussed the Council’s agenda for the first half of this year.      
 
From the perspective of further strengthening Abenomics, the expert members laid out three challenges, namely, expanding the virtuous economic cycle, dealing with internal and external risks and fluctuations, and creating institutions suitable for Society 5.0. Going forward, I would like to have focused discussions at the Council regarding what measures should be taken to resolve these challenges, how, and in which order of priority.       
 
I hope to make this year one that will carve out Japan’s future as we head towards the era that follows the Heisei period. This year, the Abe Cabinet will continue to manage policies, giving economic issues the highest priority, and I would like to ask for your continued cooperation.”