Friday, May 18, 2001
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The Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy held its first meeting at the Prime Minister's Office since the inauguration of the Koizumi Cabinet. At the outset, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi stressed, "Based on the belief that the top priority of the Koizumi Cabinet is the revitalization of the economy and that 'without structural reform, there can be no rebirth for Japan,' we will tackle structural reforms, leaving no sacred areas exempt from these reforms.' The Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy is the most important council in terms of fleshing out the major policies incorporated in my policy speech." The Prime Minister also instructed the "formulation of a 'solid policy framework' for sometime in June." The meeting began with a free-talk session toward drawing up basic policies. Minister of State for Economic and Fiscal Policy Heizo Takenaka presented the short- and medium-term rebirth scenarios for the Japanese economy and discussed the following points as a blueprint for structural reform: (1) the promotion of competitive policies and other initiatives enabling the "creation of a vibrant Japanese economy befitting the 21st century"; (2) employment and its safety nets; (3) the new sharing of roles, including national and regional governments, and the public and private sectors; and (4) reforms to the "policy formulation process" reflecting the opinions of the people. Based on these points, items for consideration showing a framework for the Fiscal 2002 Budget were presented, and lively debate ensued. Furthermore, the points under discussion concerning "national and regional governments" were defined and the Research Council on Employment Expansion made a report. |