Friday, April 10, 2009

Press Conference by Prime Minister Taro Aso

Prime Minister Taro Aso held a press conference at the Prime Minister's Office and announced the countermeasures to address the economic crisis -- an additional set of economic countermeasures.

The Japanese economy is facing a rapid shrinkage of its export market and Japan's financial environment is in an increasingly difficult condition, amid a worsening global financial crisis and the largest global recession since the war. It was in order to respond to this situation that the countermeasures to address the economic crisis were compiled.

In the beginning, Prime Minister Aso explained the objective of these countermeasures. He said, "Their foremost objective is to prevent economic activity from breaking the bottom. However, rather than merely create additional demand to boost the economy, we give emphasis to the following two considerations. The first is to give ordinary people peace of mind in their daily lives. This means taking countermeasures to help those people who are directly bearing the brunt of this recession. We will thus place emphasis on employment, social security and child-raising assistance. The second is to make the measures conducive to future economic growth. We have designed a growth policy that looks ahead to the state of our society after economic recovery. For that reason, the countermeasures extend over multiple fiscal years, rather than just the current one."

Approximately 15.4 trillion yen will be spent on national expenditure, with the total project scale of approximately 56.8 trillion yen, under a supplementary budget for fiscal 2009, in consideration of preventing business activity from breaking the bottom, to be realized by sustaining domestic demand, the practice of international coordination through fiscal spending, the response to the unemployment situation which is anticipated to worsen, and the smooth transition into an economy led by private demand. The countermeasures extend over multiple fiscal years.

Prime Minister Aso said, "The key words are 'peace of mind' and 'the future,' in addition to 'economic activity.' I would call it an all-out mobilisation of policy to ensure peace of mind and growth. The current crisis is the biggest since the war and is a challenge that must be met with the total efforts of the entire nation. In formulating these countermeasures, I gathered the views of many eminent persons on ways to overcome this difficult situation. These countermeasures incorporate approximately 60% of their recommendations. We will continue to consider the remaining viewpoints at the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy (CEFP) and at other appropriate fora. In order to implement these countermeasures, I intend swiftly to formulate and submit to the Diet the necessary supplementary budget and related bills. I will urgently seek their enactment, with the understanding of the opposition. This will result in reviving economic activity and defending people's daily lives."

Related Link

• Press Conference by Prime Minister Taro Aso (10 April 2009)
• "Countermeasures to Address the Economic Crisis" [PDF]