In an apparent gesture to downplay the continuing plunge in global stock markets, Finance Minister Koji Omi and visiting U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson agreed Monday that the global economy overall is healthy.
Paulson is here to kick off a three-nation tour of Asia.
"We agreed that the fundamentals of the U.S. economy and the Japanese economy remain solid," Omi said. "The market mechanism is working well and we are not worried about the current economic situation."
His comments came amid turmoil in worldwide stock markets that began Feb. 27 when China's top stock market indexes plunged amid speculation the government was preparing to tighten controls on investment. The nearly 9 percent plunge then combined with comments by former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan that the U.S. economy might slip into recession by year's end to trigger a plunge in U.S. stocks.
Paulson didn't mention the global stock market rout, Omi told reporters.
Omi also said they reaffirmed their cooperation on carrying out financial sanctions against North Korea as retaliation for its first nuclear weapons test last October.
On Tuesday, Paulson is expected to meet Economic and Fiscal Policy Minister Hiroko Ota and Bank of Japan Gov. Toshihiko Fukui, who recently conducted Japan's second interest rate hike in six years, bringing rates up 0.25 percentage point to 0.5 percent.