Asian inclusion asked in G-7 forex moves

Asian inclusion asked in G-7 forex moves

TOKYO (Reuter): Cooperation on currencies among Group of Seven
(G-7) nations is successful and needs to be expanded to include
other Asian nations, Eisuke Sakakibara, director-general of the
Japanese Ministry of Finance's (MOF) international finance
bureau, was quoted as saying.

Activities of Asian nations in financial markets are becoming
bigger and more aggressive, and other nations cannot ignore their
existence, Sakakibara was quoted as saying by a participant at a
seminar he attended over the weekend.

Japan's current account and trade surpluses have been
declining and the trend is likely to accelerate because of
structural changes in Japan's economy, he was quoted as saying.

The present exchange rate was around 100 yen, but two or three
years ago, 130 yen was not an unusual level, he said.

Even if the yen weakened against the dollar due to structural
changes in the Japanese economy, people tended to get used to a
range once it became established.

A rate of 130 yen to the dollar, for example, would not be
surprising if one took such factors into account, Sakakibara was
quoted as saying.

Sakakibara is widely seen as the key figure in driving the
dollar back above 100 yen last year by hammering out a series of
financial market deregulation measures, after which the media
dubbed him "Mr Yen".

His comments at a seminar last week that financial markets
should not take for granted an imminent rise in Japanese interest
rates helped lift the dollar by dampening speculation of a
tightening of credit in the near term.