Japan's economy not yet on self-sustaining recovery path: finance minister
Japan's economy not yet on self-sustaining recovery path: finance minister
12:55, March 12, 2010 
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Japan's Finance Minister Naoto Kan said on Friday the economy has shown some improvement but it is not yet showing a self-sustaining recovery.
"I still can't say the economy is on a self-sustaining recovery path," Kan, also deputy prime minister, told a regular news conference after a cabinet meeting.
"But the overall trend shows that it has moved one step forward, " he said.
The government said Thursday that Japan's economy grew an annualized 3.8 percent in real terms in the October-December quarter, slower than the initially reported 4.6 percent growth, as private-sector capital investment turned out to have improved less than previously expected.
"The government and the Bank of Japan (BOJ) are sharing a common goal and have been taking various steps to turn price moves positive this year if possible," said Kan, who became finance minister in January, in Parliament recently.
Kan has been advocating for the government and the central bank to aim for a positive annual inflation rate of about 1 percent to pull the nation out of deflation -- in November the government said Japan was in deflation, citing falling consumer prices.
The Bank of Japan has already slashed interest rates to a super low 0.1 percent and pumped trillions of yen into the financial system to boost the economy.
Kan, as well as saying the government and the BOJ are dealing with deflation by sharing a common goal, has indicated that he does not see any immediate need to have a more formal policy pact with the BOJ.
Asked by an opposition lawmaker recently if he thought a formal agreement with the central bank would help beat deflation, Kan said, "There's a question over whether it's good to have an explicit policy accord between the government and the central bank. "
"I am cautious about the framework of an accord," Kan told a parliamentary committee.
Kan has been turning up the heat on the central bank in recent days to do more to eradicate price declines and spur growth ahead of July's upper house election.
Kan has reiterated his call on the central bank to target inflation of about 1 percent or higher and Japan's Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's position on the matter is that he hopes the Bank of Japan will take "appropriate" steps to support growth.
Source:Xinhua
"I still can't say the economy is on a self-sustaining recovery path," Kan, also deputy prime minister, told a regular news conference after a cabinet meeting.
"But the overall trend shows that it has moved one step forward, " he said.
The government said Thursday that Japan's economy grew an annualized 3.8 percent in real terms in the October-December quarter, slower than the initially reported 4.6 percent growth, as private-sector capital investment turned out to have improved less than previously expected.
"The government and the Bank of Japan (BOJ) are sharing a common goal and have been taking various steps to turn price moves positive this year if possible," said Kan, who became finance minister in January, in Parliament recently.
Kan has been advocating for the government and the central bank to aim for a positive annual inflation rate of about 1 percent to pull the nation out of deflation -- in November the government said Japan was in deflation, citing falling consumer prices.
The Bank of Japan has already slashed interest rates to a super low 0.1 percent and pumped trillions of yen into the financial system to boost the economy.
Kan, as well as saying the government and the BOJ are dealing with deflation by sharing a common goal, has indicated that he does not see any immediate need to have a more formal policy pact with the BOJ.
Asked by an opposition lawmaker recently if he thought a formal agreement with the central bank would help beat deflation, Kan said, "There's a question over whether it's good to have an explicit policy accord between the government and the central bank. "
"I am cautious about the framework of an accord," Kan told a parliamentary committee.
Kan has been turning up the heat on the central bank in recent days to do more to eradicate price declines and spur growth ahead of July's upper house election.
Kan has reiterated his call on the central bank to target inflation of about 1 percent or higher and Japan's Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's position on the matter is that he hopes the Bank of Japan will take "appropriate" steps to support growth.
Source:Xinhua
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