Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa on Monday denied media reports that the United States has asked Japan to increase the amount of public money it has set aside to aid troubled financial institutions.
Speaking before a special committee of the Lower House, the finance chief said such a request did not come up during his weekend meeting with U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin in San Francisco.
But Miyazawa did indicate concern on the matter was shown, saying the U.S. side asked during preparatory talks for the bilateral meeting whether 13 trillion yen was enough. The Japanese side replied that it did not expect a shortfall, Miyazawa told the committee.