Finance Minister Katayama used a September 17 press conference, nominally a retrospective on his time in the Takaichi government, to lay out four concrete commitments that matter more than the political scorekeeping around them.
On currency policy, Katayama confirmed that Japan intervened in coordination with the US Treasury to buy yen at the end of July, the first joint intervention in 28 years. He said the action followed the September 2025 Japan-US finance ministers' joint statement and was aimed at what officials called excessive and disorderly moves in the yen, and he stated plainly that Tokyo "will not hesitate" to carry out further coordinated intervention. He also noted that US Treasury Secretary Bessent had, in his own press statement, described the Takaichi government's approach as moving Abenomics into a new stimulative phase.
On the budget, Katayama said the ministry has created a "Strong and Rich Japan" investment framework for requests tied to the fiscal year opening in April 2027, replacing the previous spending-ceiling system entirely. He called the change to the budget formulation process the first of its kind in 81 postwar years and said it focuses spending across 17 designated investment fields. Dropping the ceiling is not the same as approving everything: Katayama said requests must come with an estimate of how they will induce private investment or lift GDP before they advance, and that the review of tax breaks and subsidies is only now entering its substantive phase. He tied that discipline to a pledge to keep annual government bond issuance at a level that maintains market confidence as the budget process continues.
| Item | Status | Next step |
|---|---|---|
| Budget-request framework | "Strong and Rich Japan" investment frame created for the next budget cycle, with no fixed spending ceiling | Requests judged on estimated private-investment and GDP effects before approval |
| JGB issuance | Ministry says annual issuance will be kept at a level that maintains market confidence | To be reflected in the upcoming budget compilation |
| FX intervention | Coordinated yen-buying with the US Treasury completed in late July, the first joint action in 28 years | Minister says Japan will not hesitate to intervene jointly again |
| Tax reform outline | Cabinet has approved an outline combining income-linked worker benefits with a temporary food consumption-tax cut | Implementing bills going to the extraordinary Diet, with an early-passage target |
On tax policy, Katayama pointed to the cabinet's already-approved tax reform outline, which combines a new income-linked benefit system for low- and middle-income workers with a two-year, 1%-equivalent support-grant program tied to a temporary cut in the consumption tax on food and beverages. Katayama framed the broader package as aimed at raising take-home pay by income level and easing the work disincentives created by Japan's so-called annual income wall, and said implementing bills will go to the extraordinary Diet session with a push for early passage.
Katayama also used the conference to tally his ministry's output over the prior eleven months: four budgets and seven laws, five from the finance ministry and two from the Financial Services Agency, plus what he said were 1,262 answers given on the floor of the current Diet session. Asked about the following day's Bank of Japan policy decision, he declined to comment directly, saying only that he expects the central bank to keep working toward its 2% inflation target in close coordination with the government.