Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa said Wednesday morning that Japan is ready to carry out foreign-exchange intervention, including joint intervention with U.S. and European authorities, if speculative capital undermines the foreign-exchange situation.

Shiokawa also said he telephoned U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill earlier in the day. O'Neill canceled his meetings the same day with Shiokawa, Financial Services Minister Hakuo Yanagisawa and Bank of Japan Gov. Masaru Hayami.

"Mr. O'Neill and I agreed to closely cooperate to quickly stabilize the current economic turmoil and promote the steady growth of our economies," Shiokawa said. "We also confirmed our cooperation in the areas of stabilizing foreign exchange, providing liquidity and so on."

In the telephone conversation with O'Neill, Shiokawa did not discuss the possibility of joint intervention in foreign-exchange markets, Shiokawa added.

Regarding Japan's stock-market plunge below the 10,000 level Wednesday morning, Shiokawa said he does not believe that the country's worrisome economic state is the cause of the plunge.

Regarding the impact of expected economic turmoil on Japan's structural reforms, Shiokawa said the government would not be forced to change its reform policies.