Japanese Finance Minister Fujii says the U.S. wants to strengthen the dollar by increasing the savings rate in its economy.
Fujii speaking before lawmakers in parliament also said that U.S. Treasury Secretary Geithner’s message for Japan during his visit this week is not to focus so much on exports.
The G20 agreed over the weekend to a new framework aimed at rebalancing the global economy, and will present detailed economic plans for each other to check by the end of January. Part of the plan is for debt-laden countries such as U.S. to save more and for countries with large trade surpluses such as Chnia to export less.
Fujii said “The dollar is weak, and that’s why the yen and the euro are strong” adding “The U.S. doesn’t want that. They want a strong currency and they want to return to an economy with a rising savings rate.”
Geithner is to visit Tokyo November 10-11.
