An upcoming financial meeting of the Group of Seven major economies in Washington will probably not focus on foreign-exchange policy amid the current stability in major currencies, Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki said Tuesday.
"The G7 meeting will not necessarily discuss foreign exchange," Tanigaki said at a regular news conference. "Basically, the topics will be the global economy and what Japan, the United States and Europe can do about it."
Tanigaki said the April 23-24 meeting will probably take up macroeconomic policy, structural reforms, measures to cut off money to terrorists, and the reconstruction of Iraq.
A senior Finance Ministry official separately said that since the condition of the world economy seems to be looking up, the G7 will talk about how to make that growth sustainable.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, also said it is not certain whether the G7 finance ministers will discuss the recent hike in oil prices, which could put a damper on world growth.
Tanigaki and Bank of Japan Gov. Toshihiko Fukui are due to attend the G7 meeting, which will take place on the sidelines of a gathering of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in Washington.
The G7 members are Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States.
Foreign-exchange policy was one of the major topics at the G7 meetings in Dubai in September and Boca Raton, Fla., in February. This was due in part to the dollar's dive against the yen in recent months, which prompted speculation that Japan would continue to conduct heavy dollar-buying intervention to artificially weaken the yen and preserve its export-driven economic recovery.