U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill on Saturday pressed Japan to speedily resolve the bad-loan problem and do its part to energize global economic growth.
Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa, meanwhile, pledged during a meeting with O'Neill to restore the health of the Japanese financial sector by stepping up efforts to implement the emergency economic package unveiled earlier this month by the government and the ruling coalition.
"As for Japan's efforts, I explained the emergency economic package including the reform of the financial sector," Shiokawa told reporters after the bilateral talks, held prior to a Group of Seven meeting of finance chiefs from the world's seven major industrial countries.
Shiokawa said he and O'Neill agreed on the need for the U.S. and Japan to actively cooperate in revitalizing the global economy.