Press Conference by Shizuka Kamei, Minister for Financial Services

(Excerpt)

(Tuesday, December 8, 2009, from 10:35 a.m. to 11:10 a.m.)

[Opening Remarks by Minister Kamei]

At the cabinet meeting held earlier today, an emergency economic package was adopted. Accordingly, a supplementary budget worth 7.2 trillion yen was adopted.

Regarding the emergency economic package and the supplementary budget, I made various strong recommendations to the Prime Minister from the standpoint of the People's New Party. After considering those recommendations, the Prime Minister made his own decision.

[Questions and Answers]

Q.

You said that “the Prime Minister made his own decision.” Could you comment on the fact that the amount (of the economic package) fell short of the 11 trillion yen that you initially argued for and even the 8 trillion yen that you later spoke of?

A.

As I said earlier, Deputy Prime Minister Kan's initial proposal to set the ceiling of 2.7 trillion yen, made at a meeting of the Basic Policy Cabinet Committee, was retracted, and we argued that the total amount should be decided by adding up the amounts of necessary measures. The working group continued to work on the economic package until last night, and based on the outcome of their work, the Prime Minister made his own decision. As this is a coalition government, it is natural that the wishes and intentions of the individual parties that form the coalition are not always fully realized.

Under the current difficult economic condition, we put into force the moratorium bill (Bill concerning Temporary Measures to Facilitate Financing for SMEs, etc.) on December 4 as an urgent step. However, I have been saying at plenary sessions and committee meetings (of the Diet) as well as here that the situation is such that granting a moratorium on loan repayments alone would not enable SMEs, small shops and salaried workers to overcome the current recession. Japan is shrinking, as it is the only country in the world where deflation is progressing in an extreme way. We have consistently argued that under these circumstances, while the what-is-called “breaking bureaucracy-led government” has been advocated, we cannot implement effective economic measures to deal with a crisis like this unless we first break away from the control by the Ministry of Finance. In my capacity as a cabinet member and from the standpoint of the People's New Party, I will also stress this point in relation to the annual budget.

Q.

I have one more question, which will probably be an unpleasant question for you. Last week, a business improvement order was issued against three postal business-related companies. Could you comment on that?

A.

The other day, the first meeting was held, as you may know: we invited President Saito (of Japan Post Holdings Co.) and the vice president for the meeting, which was also attended by Minister (of Internal Affairs and Communications) Haraguchi, the senior vice minister and the parliamentary secretary, to discuss new businesses. As a prerequisite, we will review the current businesses. Without this review, we cannot go forward. All of us are in complete agreement. We have agreed that while conducting the review, we will consider what new businesses should be pursued and what kind of organization will be suited for the new businesses. Morale has sagged (at post offices). The heads of specified local post office branches are monitored by a surveillance camera, and the video is checked twice a year, maybe in order to examine whether they hobnobbed with me or some other politicians. In such a situation, it is impossible to conduct business operations properly. Unless we are resolved to carry out something like a “morale revolution,” we will not be able to regenerate the postal businesses. We must regenerate the postal businesses.

Q.

Although it may be true that morale has sagged, I presume that the embezzlement of hundreds of millions of yen and all the other problems that were revealed at this time have been going on since before the privatization of the postal businesses. Since before the privatization, internal control systems have been...

A.

As I have been saying, I have no intention of restoring the postal businesses to their status before they were broken up by the former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. Haven't you listened to me?

Q.

Yes, I have.

A.

If you have listened to me, you should be satisfied by what I have said. I have not believed that it was completely all right. As I have said over and over again, I am not of the postal clan (a group of politicians with vested interests in the postal businesses). I have no intention of restoring the postal businesses to their former status. As you said, there have probably been many problems since before the privatization. We will conduct a review. We have reached an agreement on that. You know, we made an announcement about that the other day. That is my answer to your question.

(End)

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