Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Ministerial Council on Monthly Economic Report and Other Relative Issues

Prime Minister Taro Aso attended a meeting of the Ministerial Council on Monthly Economic Report and Other Relative Issues, convened by the Chief Cabinet Secretary, at the Prime Minister's Office.

The Monthly Economic Report, released by the Cabinet Office, assesses the current state of the Japanese economy, stating that "The economy is showing movements of picking up recently while in a difficult situation with the unemployment rate reaching a record high."

On prospects for the economy, it states "With worsening employment situation, the economy is likely to remain severe for the time being. However, the economy is expected to pick up reflecting completion of inventory adjustment, effects of the policy packages and improvement of external economic conditions. On the other hand, there remains fear that the employment situation will worsen further due to extremely low level of production activities. Moreover, attention should be given to the risks that the economy is depressed by the influence of global financial crisis and concerns over slowdown in overseas economies."

The report further describes the government's policy stance. The government will continue to pursue its top priority of achieving economic recovery in the near term by steadily implementing the "Policy Package to Address Economic Crisis" and other measures. In addition, economic and fiscal policies will be conducted based on the "Basic Policies 2009 for Economic and Fiscal Reform: Reassurance, Vitality and Responsibility" that provides a roadmap for achieving three goals of reassurance, vitality and responsibility simultaneously.

Related Link

• Ministerial Council on Monthly Economic Report and Other Relative Issues
• Monthly Economic Report (Cabinet Office)