On the afternoon of December 6, local time, the 207th Provisional Diet of Japan opened. According to Japan's Kyodo News Agency, the Japanese government submitted a supplementary budget for fiscal year 2021 to the Diet on the same day, with a total expenditure of nearly 35.99 trillion yen (about 2.02 trillion yuan), which is the largest supplementary budget in Japan's history, of which 60% will be raised by issuing government bonds.
According to the Japan Broadcasting Association, Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said in a fiscal speech at the meeting that "it is necessary to achieve a virtuous circle of growth and distribution, so that the economy can embark on the track of independent growth." He therefore hopes that Congress will pass the supplementary budget as soon as possible.
On December 6, Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki delivered a financial speech at the meeting.
Suzuki said in his speech that due to the impact of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, Japan's economic situation is still grim, and now the number of new infections has dropped to the lowest level since last summer, and the epidemic prevention measures are also being relaxed in stages.
On the same day, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida delivered a speech at the plenary session of the Provisional Diet and the House of Representatives. This is his second policy address since October this year.
On December 6, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida delivered a speech at the plenary session of the Provisional Diet and the House of Representatives.
In his speech, Kishida called the new crown pneumonia epidemic a "national disaster" for Japan, stressing the importance the government attaches to epidemic prevention and control.
Fumio Kishida: "It is necessary to consider the worst-case scenario, in order to deal with the risk of infection posed by the Omikerong variant, Japan restricts the entry of foreigners from all over the world into Japan, and I know that some people will criticize this decision as too cautious, but I will always adhere to the attitude of careful and cautious response to the new crown pneumonia epidemic." ”
On November 30, a large number of flights were cancelled at Tokyo Haneda Airport.
In terms of economic measures, Kishida said that Japan will continue to implement welfare policies such as providing subsidies to families with children, and in order to promote the normalization of economic and social activities, the Japanese government will continue to carry out policies to stimulate consumption, and plans to make every effort to increase wages and salaries by reducing the tax burden on enterprises.
On October 31, Tokyo's Shibuya business district was crowded.
In the areas of diplomacy and security, Kishida said it would revise three strategic documents: the security strategy, the outline of the defense plan, and the medium-term defense capability improvement plan.
Lu Yaodong, a researcher at the Institute of Japanese Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said in an interview with the Global Information Broadcast that Kishida's second policy address was more specific than the first. However, as for how much the economic measures proposed by Kishida can play a role in the current Japanese economy, Lu Yaodong believes that boosting the economy is a long-term problem, and for now, the epidemic is the biggest factor affecting Japan's economic development.
Lu Yaodong
As a new government, it is definitely necessary to solve the problems that have not been solved by previous governments. How can Japan's long-term economic downturn change? The so-called "new capitalism" mentioned by Kishida this time still wants to boost the economy from the two levels of growth and distribution. I think the distribution measures he mentioned are still more feasible, and he proposes to increase the income of young people and child-rearing families, to improve the female employment system, and to increase the impetus and vitality of social development. However, Kishida is weaker in terms of economic growth strategy this time. In short, if you want to boost the Japanese economy, I think this is a long-term problem, and from the current point of view, a big factor that inhibits the economy is the epidemic. Therefore, epidemic prevention should be the focus.
Source: Global News+