The Abe administration approved a medium-term fiscal reform plan Thursday, pledging to narrow the budget deficit by ¥17 trillion over the next two years but offering no specifics on how to improve public finances.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's team also promised to avoid increasing new debt issuance for two years, reduce government waste and allocate money for prior policy measures with an eye on beating nearly two decades of deflation.
"The medium-term fiscal plan shows how we will achieve a fiscal consolidation target, while aiming for a virtuous cycle of economic revitalization and fiscal soundness," Abe said during a meeting of the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy.