TOKYO (MNI) – Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and Bank of Japan
Governor Masaaki Shirakawa will sit down together Friday for the first
of what will be periodic meetings between the government and the central
bank, the Nikkei and other newspapers reported on Friday.
The two sides will affirm that the economy is rousing itself and
agree to continue to work together to cure Japan’s chronic price slump.
The government is expected to stress the need for the BOJ to show a
way out of deflation through monetary policy. In making its case, it is
likely to argue that the BOJ’s quantitative easing from 2001 to 2006
stimulated investment and consumer spending, narrowing the supply-demand
gap.
Hatoyama and Shirakawa are likely to be joined by Finance Minister
Naoto Kan and BOJ Deputy Governor Hirohide Yamaguchi at the meeting
scheduled for around noon, the papers said.
Subsequent meetings are expected to be held every two or three
months, the Nikkei said.
The prime minister and the BOJ chief last met officially on Dec. 2.
The government tried unsuccessfully to start regularly scheduled
meetings soon after taking power last September. Kan renewed the push
last month amid growing concerns about deflation.
tokyo@marketnews.com
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