WASHINGTON (AFX) - Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori arrived here Sunday afternoon, ahead of planned meetings with President George W. Bush.
Mori arrived a day before he is scheduled to visit Bush. The White House economic team is reportedly split on whether to allow a rapid devaluation of the yen, according to a report in the Saturday edition of the New York Times.
According to the report, in private White House meetings, Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill has strongly opposed the idea of letting the yen lose value.
But Secretary of State Colin Powell and the chief White House economic advisor Lawrence Lindsey were more open to the possibility. The report quotes two unidentified Bush administration officials "who seemed to be neutral on the issue." Bush and Mori are expected to issue a communique after an Oval Office meeting and a working lunch.