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On December 8, 2020, the Prime Minister held the 18th meeting of the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy in 2020 at the Prime Minister’s Office.

At the meeting, the participants engaged in discussions on the Basic Principles of FY2021 Budget Formulation.

Following the discussion, the Prime Minister said:

"We will firstly make all-out efforts to prevent the spread of novel coronavirus infections. As part of these efforts, we will work to bring about economic recovery by protecting employment and ensuring business continuity.

 With regard to our response to the novel coronavirus, a request to shorten business hours has already been made as an intensive and short-term measure in eight prefectures nationwide. People are now starting to go out less, with Osaka's southern downtown Minami showing a 30% decrease in foot traffic compared to one month ago. We intend to continue our support to all establishments cooperating with these requests and implement effective measures as we closely monitor local circumstances.

At the extraordinary cabinet meeting to follow, we will decide on new economic measures. Along with assistance to medical institutions and elderly care facilities as well as Employment Adjustment Subsidies and support for corporate financing, this policy package includes new measures towards growth such as green initiatives and digital initiatives. We estimate its direct economic impact as equivalent to a 3.6% increase in Japan's Gross Domestic Product.

In addition, from now we will engage in final-stage deliberations over next fiscal year's budget following the Basic Principles of FY2021 Budget Formulation guideline that was submitted today. We intend to advance reforms undertaken thus far and allocate the budget necessary to tackle each policy challenge so as to achieve economic recovery, thoroughly implementing infection countermeasures."