Finance Minister Hirohisa Fujii said Tuesday he told Group of Seven officials that governments worldwide shouldn't pursue policies that seek to devalue their currencies.
"I made the point that it's undesirable for individual nations to adopt a weak-currency policy," Fujii said. "Currency devaluation policies back in the 1930s had an adverse impact on the global economy and politics."
Officials expressed "various opinions on the weakening of the dollar" at the G7 meeting in Istanbul last weekend, he said, declining comment on foreign exchange rates. The slide in the U.S. currency has sparked concern from Canada to France over the potential impact on economic recoveries.