Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Press Conference by Prime Minister Taro Aso

Prime Minister Taro Aso held a press conference at the Prime Minister's Office on the fiscal 2009 budget and the second fiscal 2008 supplementary budget.

Using three diagrams, Prime Minister Aso explained his thinking which underlies these budgets. These budgets are budgets to defend people's daily lives. The total scale of the three packages -- the second [fiscal 2008] supplementary budget [government proposal], the specifics of which were determined on December 20, the fiscal 2009 budget [government proposal], which was completed on December 24, and the first supplementary budget, which was passed in October -- reaches 75 trillion yen.

During the press conference, Prime Minister Aso said, "I will present these budgets to the regular session of the Diet, which is scheduled to be convened on 5 January. I should like them to be approved as soon as possible. The early passage and execution of these budgets will constitute the best possible economic countermeasures. This will determine the future of Japan's economy and, indeed, the future of Japan as a nation."

Related Link

• "Economic Countermeasures: A Three-stage Rocket" [PDF]
• Press Conference by Taro Aso, Prime Minister on the Formulation of the Fiscal 2009 Budget and Other Matters (December 24, 2008)