10 July 2001, 12:13  Japan's Takenaka - No plan to propose inflation targeting at BoJ meeting

TOKYO (AFX-ASIA) - State Minister for Economic and Fiscal Policy Heizo Takenaka said he has no plan to propose inflation-targeting at the next policy board meeting of the Bank of Japan, which begins Thursday.
Speaking at a regular press conference, Takenaka said he plans to attend the two-day meeting again, marking his third straight attendance.
"I would to like to hear the opinions of board members and participate in discussions," he said.
The state minister also said he plans to report to the board how Japan's structural reforms were evaluated by Asian countries which he recently visited.
However, he said he "has no plan to make any concrete proposal such as inflation-targeting" at the BoJ's policy board meeting, but added that he will urge board members to study real interest-rate theory. Turning to the possibility of implementing a supplementary budget, Takenaka said the government will determine the need for such a budget in autumn after reviewing economic indicators such as Tankan and GDP. He said the recent economic data endorsed the Cabinet Office's view that the economy is deteriorating, but declined to directly comment whether the agency will downgrade the economic assessment in the July report, which will be published tomorrow.

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