Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda attended a meeting of the Council on the State of the Economy held at the Prime Minister's Office.

Based on the discussion the Prime Minister said, "Response to rapid appreciation of yen is a top priority issue for our Cabinet, on a par with reconstruction from the earthquake. With Minister for National Policy Motohisa Furukawa leading the discussion, the Comprehensive Package Responding to the Yen Appreciation was compiled today, which consists of three pillars.
The first pillar is mitigating the pain of the yen appreciation, for the defensive side. Measures under this pillar include financial support to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME) and relaxation of the requirement of the Employment Adjustment Subsidy.
The second pillar is establishing robust and resilient economy against risks, going on the offensive. From this perspective we have included such measures as the enhancement of location subsidy.
The third pillar, going further on the offensive, is making the maximum use of merits of the yen appreciation through the promotion of foreign M&A and other investments. The Comprehensive Package consisting of these three pillars that has been compiled will be forwarded to the subsequent Cabinet meeting for approval, together with the estimated sum for the third supplementary budget. Based on this, I would like to act quickly to prevent the hollowing out of industry and to respond to the downside risk of the economy."