We just go by the book and conduct thorough inspections, and it is our duty to maintain that regulatory framework. It is up to private-sector companies what decisions they make.

It was extremely regrettable. The legislation was an important milestone. The rejection is a major loss to the Japanese economy.

Job conditions continue to be severe,

Postal reform is something that will decide Japan’s future: whether Japan moves forward to smaller government, leaving what we can to the private sector, or whether it goes toward bigger government.

Basically, this is something the management of a private-sector financial institution has made and is carrying out, and the government is in no position to say whether this is good or bad,

Good trends are seen in private consumption and corporate investment, … But the pace of recovery isn’t overwhelmingly strong, so we must carefully watch the situation.

We see good signs in both corporate expenditure and spending, which are the key … Especially in exports, whose recovery had been seen as difficult, the annualized growth rate stood at 11.6 percent.

It is likely that the results of special inspections of banks will be available by March 31,

There is a universally recognized duty to provide a postal service that must be protected.

And it is going into wages, which should boost spending.

not far off economic fundamentals.

These were the bills that put us at the crossroads, whether Japan can create a small government or it is headed toward creating a big government, … The rejection is a major blow to Japan’s...

There has been no request and I myself have never considered it.

But it will clearly exceed that.

a big loss for the future of Japan.

The Japanese voters showed strong support and expectations for us to continue with reform. First of all, we want to have the bills passed in this session.

Companies’ cash is not just going to repaying debts, but is going to investment,

In addition we have to make progress on the restructuring of lending by state-run institutions, personnel costs and the government’s balance sheet. We need to have a basic plan on these three issues within about...

The economy has emerged from a soft patch and is moving in a good direction, but oil prices are a risk factor,

It’s a decision made by the markets and I don’t think that decision is that far off economic fundamentals,

That doesn’t mean the Bank of Japan can freely set economic targets for the government.

We will deal with the matter in accordance with the radio law after hearing the details about Softbank’s business plan.

The government’s scenario calls for about 2 percent growth in the year,

The census shows the population is in a declining phase.

We will make our utmost efforts, respecting your strong will,

The economy is coming out of its near-stagnant stage,

Instead of fighting frantically over this pie, there is an opportunity to grow it to 40,000 billion yen or 100,000 billion yen.

Whether we reach 1.7 percent this year does not really have much meaning.

It’s the beginning of a new era in Japanese economy.

Basically, the yen rate is not misaligned with economic fundamentals,

The bank needs to more specifically define its criteria for ending its quantitative easing policy.

I am happy that understanding for the bills is spreading,

The economy has got out of its soft patch,

We only have two years until the start of the privatization process so we have to deal firmly with each issue.

The BOJ used its authority to make the decision even though deflation remains a problem.