THE JAPAN NEWS


 

In response to the issue of Britain’s decision to leave the European Union, the Japanese government and the Bank of Japan held an urgent meeting on Monday morning at the Prime Minister’s Office to discuss how to stabilize Japan’s financial markets

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe instructed his Cabinet members to take necessary actions while cooperating with other Group of Seven major countries and closely watching moves in the financial markets.

At the urgent meeting, Abe said: “The Tokyo market is going to open. We should take all possible measures to prevent negative impacts on Japan’s real economy and the nation’s small and midsize companies. It is important for all G-7 countries to take concerted action to continuously send out messages that they will intend to exert their utmost efforts to stabilize the markets.”

The prime minister emphasized the government’s stance to put every effort into stabilizing the financial markets.

Abe instructed Finance Minister Taro Aso, who is also the deputy prime minister, to discuss closely with other G-7 countries and take necessary actions flexibly in economic and financial aspects.

Abe told Aso, “I hope you will collaborate with the Bank of Japan and pay closer attention than before to moves in the financial markets, including the foreign exchange market.”
The prime minister also urged the Bank of Japan to closely collaborate with the central banks of other G-7 countries for securing market liquidity.

Abe said that Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda, who was on a business trip to Switzerland to attend a meeting of the Bank for International Settlements, called him on Sunday night. In the telephone conversation, Abe revealed that Kuroda told him, “Central banks of 30 major countries, including G-7 countries, have agreed that they will carefully monitor moves in the markets and closely cooperate, so that international financial markets can properly function.”

The urgent meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office was attended by Abe, Aso, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga and Bank of Japan Deputy Gov. Hiroshi Nakaso.

After the meeting, Aso told reporters, “Last week, the Japanese markets were shaken greatest.”

His remarks indicated a view that, partly because finance ministers and central bank governors of the G-7 countries held an urgent telephone conference and issued a joint statement, fluctuations in financial markets of the United States and European countries where trading began later than in Tokyo due to the time difference, could be reduced by a certain degree.

Meanwhile, on Monday morning, Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida met with British Ambassador Tim Hitchens at the Foreign Ministry and asked him for Britain’s consideration for Japanese companies operating in Britain.

Kishida told the ambassador that the Japanese government wants the British government to carefully listen to opinions from more than 1,000 Japanese companies doing businesses in Britain.
 


The Yomiuri Shimbun