Thursday, October 30, 2008

JAPANESE

A Joint Meeting of the Government and Ruling Parties Council on New Economic Countermeasures and the Ministerial Meeting on Economic Measures

Photograph of the Prime Minister delivering an address at the Joint Meeting of the Government and Ruling Parties Council on New Economic Countermeasures and the Ministerial Meeting on Economic Measures (1)

Photograph of the Prime Minister delivering an address at the Joint Meeting of the Government and Ruling Parties Council on New Economic Countermeasures and the Ministerial Meeting on Economic Measures (1)

Prime Minister Taro Aso held a joint meeting of the Government and Ruling Parties Council on New Economic Countermeasures and the Ministerial Meeting on Economic Measures at the Prime Minister's Office. At the meeting, a new set of economic countermeasures -- Measures to Counter Difficulties in People's Daily Lives -- was decided. These measures will address new situations that have arisen since the Comprehensive Immediate Policy Package to Ease Public Anxiety was formulated on the instruction of the Prime Minister at the previous meeting of the Government and Ruling Parties Council on New Economic Countermeasures.

The measures put emphasis on the three objectives of: assurance against difficulties in daily life; stabilizing and bolstering of finance and the economy; and activation of the latent strengths of the regions. The measures do not rely on deficit-financing bonds for their funding, but instead use reserves in special-purpose government accounts, etc. Furthermore, they call for the formulation of a mid-term program to build a sustainable social security system and secure its stable financial resources.

In his address, Prime Minister Aso said, "Today, not only Japan but the entire world is experiencing events that are so major that they could only occur once in a century. I have thus far made rapid-fire requests for countermeasures to the Government and ruling parties. I am grateful from my heart that you have come up with these comprehensive, effective, and concrete countermeasures in an extremely tight time span. From now on, the Government and the ruling parties must unite as one to carry out these measures with full responsibility. I would also like to ask each minister to strive for immediate actions to make these measures truly feasible ones."

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Photograph of the Prime Minister delivering an address at the Joint Meeting of the Government and Ruling Parties Council on New Economic Countermeasures and the Ministerial Meeting on Economic Measures (2)

Photograph of the Prime Minister delivering an address at the Joint Meeting of the Government and Ruling Parties Council on New Economic Countermeasures and the Ministerial Meeting on Economic Measures (2)

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  • Photograph of the Prime Minister delivering an address at the Joint Meeting of the Government and Ruling Parties Council on New Economic Countermeasures and the Ministerial Meeting on Economic Measures (1)
  • Photograph of the Prime Minister delivering an address at the Joint Meeting of the Government and Ruling Parties Council on New Economic Countermeasures and the Ministerial Meeting on Economic Measures (2)