Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa called for continuous monitoring of the currency market Wednesday despite the seeming stabilization of the yen-dollar exchange rate.
Miyazawa made the cautious remark in a regular news conference the day after Japanese monetary authorities reportedly stepped into the foreign exchange market to prop up the falling dollar.
He said he had ordered Finance Ministry officials to pay attention to the volatile market for the past few days, but added he was not informed of details. The exchange rate has been somewhat "market-disturbing," he said.
Meanwhile, he voiced reservation concerning the idea of setting exchange rate target zones for the yen, dollar and euro.
Such a scheme — aimed to stabilize exchange rates — should be developed gradually through many international talks and not created instantly with a single piece of paper, Miyazawa said, adding the idea itself is not bad.
The topic is expected to be raised by his German counterpart Oskar Lafontaine later this week at the upcoming Asia-Europe finance ministers' meeting in Frankfurt.