Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy

Prime Minister Taro Aso held a meeting of the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy at the Prime Minister's Office.

At the meeting, discussions took place on Basic Principles of the FY2009 Budget Formulation. It was confirmed that while maintaining the Guidelines for FY2009 Budget Requests in line with the principles for attaining fiscal health, the budget should be allocated in a prioritized manner to the three areas of "peace of mind in people's daily lives," "strengthening financial and economic stability," and "enabling the fulfillment of the regions' latent powers." It was also confirmed that bold responses will be taken flexibly depending on the situation at the time, in order to safeguard the people's lives and the Japanese economy.

In his address, Prime Minister Aso said, "The Basic Principles stipulate that bold responses will be taken flexibly depending on the situation at the time and in light of the recent rapidly-changing economic situation, while maintaining the Guidelines for FY2009 Budget Requests. We will swiftly make a Cabinet decision on the Basic Principles, and the Government will formulate a budget to safeguard the people's lives based on the Cabinet decision."

Afterwards, the Basic Principles were decided upon at the extraordinary Cabinet meeting.

Related Link

• Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy (Cabinet Office)