Summary of Finance Minister Katayama’s Press Conference, July 28, 2026

“Summary of Finance Minister and Minister of State for Special Missions Katayama’s Post-Cabinet Press Conference” is a document compiling the questions and answers from the press conference held on July 28, 2026, from 11:02 a.m. to 11:12 a.m.

The questions covered the sharp drop in the Cabinet’s approval rating and responses to rising prices, investment in the United States, the guidelines for preliminary budget requests and budget formulation reform, and a consumption tax reduction on food products. The minister explained that measures to address rising prices had been implemented one after another since the administration took office and expressed the intention to work to ensure that the substance of these policies was communicated.

The minister explained that budget formulation reform would require assessment of contributions to growth commensurate with investment and the ability to induce private investment, making it easier to focus measures on those that are genuinely effective.

While an investment framework without a ceiling on requests was presented, the minister also indicated a policy of distinguishing expenditures that should be reviewed from unnecessary expenditures and allocating resources with discipline.

The minister explained that the FY7 supplementary budget economic measures and the FY8 budget include standard support exceeding 80,000 yen for a household of two spouses. The breakdown includes tax reductions of 30,000 to 60,000 yen, a 20,000-yen allowance for households with children, and price-increase response coupons worth at least 3,000 yen; the minister also said that measures to mitigate the sharp rise in fuel prices and reductions in electricity and gas charges were being implemented. In addition, the minister said that 2.5 trillion yen in reserve funds had been secured as a contingency.

The minister explained that investment in the United States is premised on projects benefiting Japanese companies and that loans or guarantees by foreign banks may be used. Regarding financing for the construction of a natural gas power generation facility, the minister refrained from providing details because the project had not yet begun, but said that financing by U.S. banks would eliminate concerns over dollar procurement and would be important for the steady implementation of the Strategic Investment Initiative. The first wave of projects is being handled by the three megabanks.

The Ministry of Finance reflected in the guidelines for preliminary budget requests content that was almost identical to the approach it presented to the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy on June 25. Based on reforms to the budget formulation system, including a shift away from dependence on supplementary budgets, it said that the “Strong and Prosperous Japan” investment framework would have no ceiling on requests and that the necessary amounts could be appropriately requested, including requests for specific items. The minister explained that this was not a conventional ceiling system.

Under the new request guidelines, the government will confirm contributions to growth through returns commensurate with investment and the ability to induce private investment. It also said that it would review special tax measures, subsidies, and funds, pursue expenditure reform efforts, reconsider priorities, and significantly concentrate resources.

Regarding a consumption tax reduction on food products, the minister said that the minister and Prime Minister Takaichi were completely aligned in seeking to do whatever policies would contribute to thoroughly revitalizing the economy, promoting investment, and sustaining growth, rather than limiting the approach to a consumption tax reduction alone. However, the minister refrained from discussing specific details because internal party and other processes lie ahead.