TOKYO (AFX-ASIA) - Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa said there will be no discussion of forex rates at the upcoming G8 summit meeting in Genoa.
"Argentina's economic situation seems to have stabilised so there will be no need to discuss foreign exchange rates," Shiokawa said, when asked whether the dollar/yen would be on the G8 agenda. Turning to domestic policy, the finance minister said "we would like to continue speaking to the Bank of Japan, (noting) that further monetary easing is a crucial factor for prices and the economy.
"If the BoJ sees (its) current account (with the banks) tightening in the future, it will move to further monetary easing, watching the conditions in bank lending to companies and price movements." Shiokawa reiterated that the "government will take all possible stimulus measures if the economy faces a risk of negative growth in the year to March 2002.
"However, we need to see what the economic situation is in September and afterwards before taking any action. Economists are predicting that the economy will worsen but consumption growth has been stronger in recent months. I think there is a gap in performance between corporations and consumers," he said, referring to recent strong department store sales and travel spending.