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On September 3, 2021, the Prime Minister held the 12th meeting of the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy in 2021 at the Prime Minister’s Office.

At the meeting, the participants engaged in discussions on the response to infectious diseases and macroeconomic management.

Following the discussion, the Prime Minister said,
 
 “Today, we discussed our response to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and future economic management.
 
First of all, we will give the highest priority to securing medical systems and make all-out efforts to implement infection prevention measures and proceed with vaccinations. As new neutralizing antibody drugs have demonstrated remarkable effects in the prevention of developing severe symptoms in medical settings, we will expand their use going forward. As for inoculations, we have administered more than 133 million doses. We will aim to ensure that approximately 60 percent of the people will have completed their vaccinations at the end of this month and that those who wish to receive vaccines can complete their second dose at the earliest time over the period from October to November. Thus we have entered a new phase of COVID-19 countermeasures.
 
In today’s discussions, it was pointed out that we should utilize vaccination certificates for the entry to events, use of facilities, and other purposes, as in the case of other countries. We will advance discussions, including on these matters, and lay out a course forward toward balancing measures against infections and the resumption of socio-economic activities at an early time.
 
Overall, the Japanese economy is continuing to show movements of picking up, despite the prolonged impact of COVID-19. Under these circumstances, we will provide robust support for business operators in an extremely severe situation, such as dining and drinking and tourism businesses, and people whose livelihoods have been affected seriously. In addition, we will drastically prioritize green, digital, creating vibrant communities, and addressing the declining birth rate in fiscal measures and tax systems, carry out bold regulatory reforms, and review existing schemes from scratch, in order to establish an economic structure that will serve as the foundation for future growth.
 
We will conduct agile economic management without hesitation to open up future prospects of Japan and achieve autonomous economic growth, while supporting those in a harsh situation.”