TOKYO, July 23 - Japanese Economic Minister Heizo Takenaka said on Monday he saw no change in the government's official assessment of the economy despite falls in Tokyo stock prices.
"The assessment that the economy is deteriorating will not be changed because of the stock falls," Takenaka told a news conference.
The key Nikkei share average <.N225> slid more than three percent in early afternoon trade on Monday, having fallen as low as 11,531.68 earlier, its lowest intraday level since March 15 when it hit a 16-year low of 11,433.88.
Takenaka said Japan's slumping stock markets were largely in line with declines in shares globally, a situation he called a temporary blip.
He said the fall in Tokyo shares was partly caused by declines in information-technology and banking-related stocks.
"We will continue to tackle the problem of banks' bad loans, although there's little Japan can do about falls in global shares."