The Finance Ministry has hinted it may seek compensation for any damage caused by the downgrading of Japan's credit rating by U.S.-based Moody's Investors Service Inc.
In a letter to the rating agency dated July 23, the ministry said that should any government or corporation suffer unwarranted damages, it possesses the right to claim compensation, a ministry official said Thursday.
The official said the letter does not mean the government intends to take legal action.
Since April, the ministry has sent three letters to Moody's to question the appropriateness of its ratings of Japanese government bonds.
In May, the influential credit-rating agency downgraded Japan's sovereign credit rating two notches to A2, putting it in the same league as Cyprus, Greece and Israel, and below that of Botswana, causing strong indignation among some government officials.
However, Moody's is the only one of three foreign credit-rating firms the ministry has been able to continue communicating with about credit-rating decisions, the official said. The other two are Standard & Poor's Corp. and Fitch Ratings.