Katayama Vows to Assemble Sufficient Extra Budget

Tokyo, Oct. 23 (Jiji Press)–The Japanese government’s planned supplementary budget will secure sufficient funding to implement necessary projects, new Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said on Wednesday. “A sufficient scale is necessary to accomplish objectives, and it doesn’t matter whether it is large or not,” Katayama said at her inaugural press conference, referring to the fiscal 2025 extra budget designed to finance proposed economic measures. She also stressed the need to maintain fiscal discipline. Asked about a proposed consumption tax cut, she said, “It is not a matter that can be handled easily” because the tax is a source of funding for social security. But Katayama added that she takes seriously an agreement between the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its new coalition partner, Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Innovation Party), to suspend the consumption tax on food for two years. She said that the government and the Bank of Japan need to collaborate to make economic and monetary policies effective, adding that specifics of monetary policy are up to the central bank to decide. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]