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On November 7, 2019, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attended the tenth meeting of the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy in 2019 at the Prime Minister’s Office.
 
At the meeting, an intensive discussion was held on monetary policy, commodity prices and other issues, as well as a discussion regarding social infrastructure improvement, which is one of the thematic topics of accelerating economic revitalization and fiscal consolidation in a holistic manner.
 
Based on the discussion, the Prime Minister said,
 
“Today we first held an intensive discussion on monetary policy and commodity prices. Until now, Minister Nishimura has reported information he obtained from hearings and site visits, each time, regarding economic trends after the consumption tax increase. Today, we just had the Governor of the Bank of Japan and the Cabinet Office give us a detailed report on the status of the domestic and global economies once again, based on the currently available data, and held discussions.
 
Taking into consideration that information, there is no change in our assessment that the Japanese economy is recovering at a moderate pace. At the same time, we once again recognize that full attention should be given to the impact of the successive natural disasters including Typhoon No. 19*, as well as the increased risk in the global economy caused by the tensions over trade issues, and the impact to the business sentiment in Japan.
 
Additionally, we must continue to pay close attention to the impact of the consumption tax increase. I am strongly aware of the importance of implementing macroeconomic policies, with an eye to the future, in a timely manner. Based on today’s discussions, I would like to decide on the next steps.
 
Next, we held a discussion on social infrastructure improvement. Many people have lost their lives and livelihoods due to the recent frequent large-scale disasters. The Government will place top priority on the people’s safety and peace of mind, and firmly strengthen the necessary initiatives for disaster prevention, disaster mitigation, and building national resilience. Furthermore, building smart cities is an important first step to realizing Society 5.0 throughout all of Japan. I would like the relevant ministers to work together to promote these efforts, under the leadership of the Integrated Innovation Strategy Promotion Council, so that the national and local governments and people in each field work as one to accelerate the relevant initiatives.”
 
*Typhoon Hagibis