Finance Minister Hikaru Matsunaga departs today for Washington where he will attend a series of financial meetings, including a gathering of the Group of Seven finance ministers and central bankers.
That meeting is expected to focus on the Japanese economy and the Asian financial crisis. Government officials maintain that Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto's pledge last week to take more flexible steps such as additional income tax cuts to boost domestic demand will help reduce criticism from other G-7 partners of Japan's economic management.
There were rumors that Matsunaga would not attend the G-7 meeting in order to attend an Upper House Budget Committee debate over Hashimoto's plan to revise the fiscal austerity law, but by 11:00 p.m. it was clear that such action would create even more turmoil, and he was told to get on the plane.