Welfare Ministry Provided Basis for Controversial FSA Report: Suga

June 13, 2019

Tokyo--Japan's welfare ministry has provided the basis for the controversial Financial Services Agency report suggesting that an elderly couple living on pensions needs to amass 20 million yen in life savings, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga indicated Thursday.

"It's true that the ministry, citing a family spending survey, gave an explanation during the course of discussions by a working group under the FSA's Financial System Council that an elderly household on average had posted a deficit of 55,000 yen per month," Suga told a press conference.

Meanwhile, Suga pointed out that the passage in the report stating that an additional 20 million yen will be needed per elderly couple during 30 years after retirement is "the working group's own opinion."

The comment indicated afresh the government's stance that the report in question has not been approved at a plenary meeting of the FSA council and that the government therefore will not accept it as an official report.

"The government has been working to create a pension system that can be sustained into future years, and it's a pillar for the planning of post-retirement lives," Suga said.

He also said the government will implement measures to enhance the country's social security system, including giving out an additional 60,000 yen per year to elderly people whose pension benefits are low. Jiji Press