DUBAI, Sept 22 - Top financial diplomat Zembei Mizoguchi said on Monday that Japan's stance of acting in the foreign exchange market as needed has not changed after a Group of Seven (G7) finance ministers' meeting at the weekend. "We reaffirmed our view on currencies and it is unchanged. Therefore, our stance of closely monitoring markets and taking action as needed is unchanged," Mizoguchi, vice finance minister for international affairs, told reporters on the sidelines of meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Dubai. Asked if the yen's rise of about four yen against the dollar in the past week had been rapid, Mizoguchi: "I think the movements have been too rapid."
The yen rose as high as 111.37 to the dollar on Monday, its highest since December 2000, and was up more than two percent from late Friday's level of around 114.01 yen. In early afternoon Tokyo trade it was quoted at around 112.45 yen. Mizoguchi declined to comment on whether Japan had intervened in the market earlier in the day. "As for specific operations, the figures are announced at the end of the month and on a quarterly basis," he said. A weekend statement by the G7 calling for flexible exchange rates based on market forces was not specifically aimed at Japan's intervention in the currency market, he said.
Asked if the G7 statement was intended to curb Japan's heavy intervention to restrain the yen, he said: "We confirmed our general views on foreign exchange, and it is not pointing to that." "The communique applies to every country, and each country will consider what steps need to be taken," he said. Japanese officials worry that excessive yen strength hurts exporters, and could threaten an economic recovery.///