Press Conference by KATO Katsunobu, Minister of Finance and Minister of State for Financial Services

(Excerpt)

(Wednesday, October 2, 2024, 5:12 pm to 5:52 pm)

[Opening remarks:]

Minister)

My name is Kato Katsunobu, and I have been newly appointed as Minister of Finance Minister, Minister of State for Financial Services, and Minister in charge of Overcoming Deflation. Thank you very much for your support.
Yesterday, I received the Prime Minister's instructions on the economy, fiscal policy, and finance as a whole.
The major instructions I received are: to manage the economy and public finance while giving top priority to putting an end to deflation, based on the idea that the economy is the very basis of fiscal policy, and aim to achieve a growth-based economy driven by wage hikes and investments through encouraging proactive investments in growth areas both by the public and private sectors; to promote reform both from the revenue side and the expenditure side based on the Economic and Fiscal Plan for New Stage and work to correct adverse effects of the principle of completing programs in a single fiscal year; to promote evidence-based policymaking (EBPM) by the use of digital technologies to achieve effective budget allocation and budget execution; to promote all types of investment, including human investment and impact investment, for realizing Japan as an investment superpower, and further facilitate a shift from savings to investment and endeavor to strengthen corporate governance and enhance asset management for that purpose; to back up regional financial institutions' efforts to fulfil their financial intermediary functions and secure their financial soundness from the perspective of regional revitalization and regional activation; and endeavor to ensure the impartiality, fairness, and transparency in financial markets to secure people's trust in financial instruments.
Keeping these instructions of the Prime Minister in mind, I would like to work hard to turn Japan into a leading asset management center and an investment superpower, strengthen regional financial institutions' financial intermediary functions to unleash the vitality of local communities, and secure the stability of the financial system and people's trust therein.

[Questions and answers:]

Q.

You mentioned regional financial institutions at the beginning, but could you explain again your view on the current environment surrounding them and their expected roles. Additionally, while the FSA will continue dealing with various challenges, are there any themes or points that you pay special attention to?

A.

First, regarding financial institutions, the repayment of effectively interest-free and unsecured loans is now fully underway. In addition, some business owners are facing difficulties due to price increases and a labor shortage. Under such circumstances, I think it important to provide those business owners with support for business improvement and business restructuring, not limited to cash flow support. From such perspective, we would like to encourage financial institutions to offer support in accordance with individual business owners' situations. Also in the process of promoting regional revitalization and regional activation, regional financial institutions are expected to play important roles as they know best the situations of their regions and individual business owners doing business there. We expect that support offered by such financial institutions familiar with the situations of respective regions will lead to the vitalization of local economies and communities, and we would like to develop a favorable environment for that purpose.

Q.

Among various challenges and themes that the FSA is aware of as you mentioned, are there any that you especially pay attention to?

A.

Of course, I pay special attention to regional financial administration, and I also consider that roles to be played by financial institutions are very important in efforts to promote Japan as a leading asset management center and an investment superpower, as I mentioned earlier. We would like to assist them so that they can surely fulfill their expected roles.