ISTANBUL -(Dow Jones)- Japanese Finance Minister Hirohisa Fujii said Saturday that the government will take steps if the yen's moves become excessively one-sided.
The claim, which reiterates past statements, is yet another attempt to dispel speculation that he is all for a strong domestic currency.
"We will take appropriate steps if one-sided movements become excessive," Fujii said at a news conference held here after a Group of Seven meeting of finance ministers and central bankers.
"It's desirable for exchange rates to be stable, which is all positive for every nation in the world," he said.
Fujii also said he had told his G-7 counterparts that his previous comments warning against competitive currency devaluation - a stance markets took to signal that he wouldn't try to arrest the yen's rise - had been "misinterpreted."
Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa, who was also at the press conference, said the central bank will patiently maintain a loose monetary policy, indicating that he has little intention to raise the central bank's 0.1% policy interest rate early.
But he voiced optimism about improvements in Japan's corporate finance market. That may stoke further speculation that the bank is considering letting some of its emergency measures - namely the buying of corporate bonds and commercial paper - expire in December as scheduled.
-By Takashi Nakamichi, Dow Jones Newswires; 813-6895-7558; takashi.nakamichi@dowjones.com
http://www.fxstreet.com/news/forex-news/article.aspx?StoryId=a584995d-ba69-4b94-90d1-176843f28fbb
The claim, which reiterates past statements, is yet another attempt to dispel speculation that he is all for a strong domestic currency.
"We will take appropriate steps if one-sided movements become excessive," Fujii said at a news conference held here after a Group of Seven meeting of finance ministers and central bankers.
"It's desirable for exchange rates to be stable, which is all positive for every nation in the world," he said.
Fujii also said he had told his G-7 counterparts that his previous comments warning against competitive currency devaluation - a stance markets took to signal that he wouldn't try to arrest the yen's rise - had been "misinterpreted."
Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa, who was also at the press conference, said the central bank will patiently maintain a loose monetary policy, indicating that he has little intention to raise the central bank's 0.1% policy interest rate early.
But he voiced optimism about improvements in Japan's corporate finance market. That may stoke further speculation that the bank is considering letting some of its emergency measures - namely the buying of corporate bonds and commercial paper - expire in December as scheduled.
-By Takashi Nakamichi, Dow Jones Newswires; 813-6895-7558; takashi.nakamichi@dowjones.com
http://www.fxstreet.com/news/forex-news/article.aspx?StoryId=a584995d-ba69-4b94-90d1-176843f28fbb