Japan happy with G-20 deal on global economic imbalances+

PARIS, Feb. 19 Kyodo -
Japanese Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda hailed Saturday an agreement by the
Group of 20 leading economies on global economic imbalances, saying a broad
accord was reached.
Referring to an envisioned schedule of drawing up a mutual assessment plan to
reduce economic imbalances through November, when the G-20 leaders gather for
the summit in France, Noda told a news conference after the two-day ministerial
meeting in Paris, ''As a start toward November, we had good discussions.''
He declined to unveil the detail negotiation process on the matter, saying the
agreed set of tools is in line with what Tokyo wanted.
Noda also indirectly urged China and other emerging economies to keep working
together on forming the mechanism to tackle economic imbalances.
''Since all major countries in the (international) system, including Japan,
will certainly be told'' what needs to be improved, ''we don't have to worry''
about their cooperation, he said.
The G20 finance ministers and central bank governors agreed Saturday on a set
of indicators including public debt and fiscal deficits, and private savings
rate and private debt. The G-20 statement added that the external imbalances
composed of the trade balance and net investment income flows and transfers are
also included, while consideration is given to exchange rate, fiscal, monetary
and other policies.
As for rising commodity prices, Noda said that the G-20 members agreed to
launch a study group led by Bank of Japan Executive Officer Hiroshi Nakaso to
conduct analysis in the markets.
BOJ Governor Masaaki Shirakawa told the same news conference that France, which
chairs the G-20 this year, asked Japan to do the job and Tokyo accepted.
The G-20, representing about 85 percent of world output, groups Argentina,
Australia, Brazil, Britain, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia,
Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey,
the United States and the European Union.
==Kyodo
2011-02-20 17:43:15