Prime Minister Abe held a press conference on Tuesday, stating that controlling the transmission of the new coronavirus would be a long-term war, and in the next 10 days or so, formulating emergency economic measures larger than that of the Lehman Shock, and amending the new fiscal year He showed his idea of organizing a budget. He also stated a policy to provide cash benefits to households and other households where income may decrease and living may become difficult. He also stated that it would take measures to allow small and medium-sized businesses to receive interest-free loans from private financial institutions.
Prime Minister Abe held a press conference on the 28th after the new fiscal year budget was approved on the 27th.
At the beginning, he explained that the spread of the new coronavirus was rapidly expanding in the world, and called on the public to say, “Japan may be in the same situation in a short period of time. Was.
He noted that the number of infected people is increasing rapidly in Tokyo. “Once the explosion has spread, the number of infected people has increased more than 30 times in just two weeks, based on estimates from Europe and the United States. You have to fight with terrible enemies with fortitude. ”
Based on a sense of crisis, he established a response headquarters based on the law and emphasized that “ we will do our utmost to prevent the spread of infection while assuming the worst situation in close cooperation with local governments. ” did.
Emergency economic measures compiled within about 10 days
Prime Minister Abe also stated, “We will instruct the government to formulate an urgent economic measure and formulate a supplementary budget plan for its implementation. I want to submit it to the Diet. ”
He added, “We will mobilize all policies, including national and local taxes, exemptions and monetary measures.”
Now that infection prevention is a top priority, we will take measures focusing on overcoming difficult times, and we will take measures to allow small and medium-sized businesses to receive interest-free loans from private financial institutions. In addition to taking action, he also described the idea of establishing a new benefit system for the first time.
Careful consideration for uniform cash payments for all citizens
In addition, about the object of cash payment, “small and medium-sized business, freelancer, individual business person and many people who are worried about daily life very much. We want to make cash payments to get them to live or to maintain their lives. ”
Regarding the size and target of cash payments, “I think that we should make drastic payments with a certain target, given the experience and effects of the Lehman shock.”
Furthermore, at the stage when the spread of infection was suppressed and social unrest was exacerbated, the Japanese economy was expected to recover at a stretch to a V-shape. He showed his thoughts to take a revenge measure.
He emphasized on the scale of economic measures: “The latest G20 summit agreement is that the world will cooperate and implement strong economic and fiscal policies. We will coordinate unprecedented measures beyond the time of the Lehman Shock.”.
Although it is not a situation to issue an “Emergency Declaration”, it is on the verge of brink
In addition, Prime Minister Abe commented on whether or not he was issuing an “ Emergency Declaration ” at the present stage. You are. ”
“At the moment, no one world leader can answer when the fight against the new coronavirus is over. I too cannot, unfortunately. My term as LDP Governor and members of the House of Representatives next year.” Now, I want to focus on fighting infectious diseases, instead of putting that in my head. ”
School reopening requires special care
Regarding the reopening of the school, he said, “The situation around the coronavirus is changing every day. We have to think according to the situation at that time.”
He added, “Especially, reopening schools is harmful to children and their lives, and we need to be very careful. Tokyo is in a very difficult situation, but in some parts of the country, there are no infected people yet. I’d like to ask for expert judgment. ”
Prepare for a long battle
He also thanked him for cooperating with requests for self-restraint in large-scale events, saying, “In the past month, many people may have been stressed, so to speak of” corona fatigue “or” self-restraint fatigue. ” It’s no wonder if the infection spreads as soon as you relax, and you have to be prepared for a long-term war. ”
He also stated that he would use the world’s wisdom to accelerate the development of therapeutics and vaccines in order to resolve anxiety as soon as possible, and strongly support research and development by universities and private companies. Was.
Utilize economic measures to secure masks
He added that the shortage of masks has continued, saying, “We will also use the next economic measures to continue working to further increase production and secure supply to facilities that are in high demand.”
He added, “Medical institutions across the country will secure more than 15 million medical masks and will be able to reach all prefectures by next week. In the middle of next week, we will secure more than 20 million copies and distribute them sequentially to 500,000 facilities nationwide. In addition, 11 million fabrics will be distributed to elementary and junior high schools nationwide. We will secure the mask and distribute it around April. ”
City blockade without penalties
Regarding the response to lockdown and blockade of the city, “ It is not a compulsory penalty, but a request and instruction from the governor, and we must cooperate in that. Said.
“It is said that Japan has a relatively small number of infected people and a small number of PCR tests compared to Western countries, but I almost every day told the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare that I hope that we will be able to perform PCR tests if they do so. “There is a debate as to whether Japan is hiding it, but I think it is different.”
