Tokyo, Aug. 31 (AFP) - The International Monetary Fund has asked the Japanese government to agree to a special assessment of the country's financial system, including the state of non-performing loans at banks, a spokesman for the government's financial watchdog said. The IMF has pressed for stepped-up action on Japan's bad loan problem, and noted in a report earlier this month that questions were being raised by analysts about the magnitude of the problem and the transparency of the financial system.