TOKYO (AFX-ASIA) - Eisuke Sakakibara, former vice minister of the Finance Ministry, said it is not unlikely for the dollar/yen rate to reach 150-160 towards the end of the year due to the possibility of a financial crisis in Japan. "... And the US government would accept the yen's fall to 150-160 yen," he said. "I would say it is not unlikely that the dollar/yen reach 150-160 towards the end of the year, because a financial crisis will happen sometime, although I believe the crisis may not happen (as early as) March," he told foreign correspondents in Tokyo. After his speech, he told reporters: "Even if the dollar/yen reaches the 150-160 yen level, the US government will accept those levels as long as those levels reflect the weakening of the (Japanese) economy." Asked whether the yen will fall further from the current 133 yen level, he said: "I think the yen's weakness will progress from now on." Commenting about Japan's economic growth prospects, he said: "I think the Ja panese economy will shrink 2-3 pct in the year to March 2003." The government is predicting almost zero growth in the same period.