Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa said Tuesday he would not be calling on the Bank of Japan to further ease its monetary grip during the latest meetings of the BOJ Policy Board.
"Instead of further easing monetary policy, I want the BOJ to maintain its current policy," Shiokawa said with regard to the meetings Tuesday and today. "I want the BOJ to consult closely with commercial banks over ways to maximize the effects of the current policy."
Meanwhile, Heizo Takenaka, state minister in charge of economic and fiscal policy, told reporters that he would attend today's meeting in order to bolster cooperation between the government and the central bank in the fight against deflation.