Japan's economy will recover and serve to boost the global economy if deregulation and other reforms are implemented by the new Japanese government under Junichiro Koizumi, OECD chief Donald Johnston said Wednesday.
The secretary general of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development told Kyodo News and other Japanese news organizations that he had high hopes for the possible effects of the reforms and for the new prime minister's economic policies.
Johnston said he had met Koizumi when he served as minister of health and welfare and was impressed with his leadership qualities.
For a full recovery of the Japanese economy, decisive action to clear the banking system of its bad debts and to deregulate the market was urgently needed, Johnston said.
If Koizumi, who rode to victory as leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party on a reformist platform, succeeds in launching structural reforms, the Japanese economy would once again become buoyant, Johnston said.