TOKYO (AFX-ASIA) - Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa said he does not know whether the issue of foreign exchange rates will be discussed at the G7 meeting in Ottawa starting on Friday. "I don't know that. Anyway, the forex levels should be determined by market forces," Shiokawa said, in response to a reporter's question on whether currency levels will be discussed at the meeting. "The biggest issue for Japan at the meeting will be the disposal of banks' bad loans but Prime Minister (Junichiro) Koizumi has reiterated Japan will take all possible measures to avoid being the origin of a financial crisis," he said. "The US government has not yet passed tax reduction bills and there are no signs of increased corporate capital investment in Europe," he noted. Shiokawa said the government cannot force banks to accept public funds, despite a call yesterday from Takashi Imai, the chairman of the Japanese Federation of Economic Organizations, for an early injection of money. "The government cannot force a capital injection on the banks unless they collapse," Shiokawa said. "The government might have to deal with aggressive disposals of bad loans by banks but the judgement must be made by the banks' management. I think at this stage banks don't need a capital injection," he said. "Banks should shift more attention to launching new businesses to increase profitability and expand financial activity instead of focusing on enhancing the capital-adequacy ratio and bad-loan disposals," he added. Shiokawa expressed surprise over the sharp fall in Koizumi's popularity after his dismissal of the hugely popular and reform-minded Makiko Tanaka as foreign minister. "I had never thought the level of support would fall so sharply. We should make efforts to restore public confidence in the government by promoting structural reforms as planned," he said.