Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa, who has been hospitalized since last week, will return to work on Tuesday, the Finance Ministry's top bureaucrat said Thursday.
"The finance minister is doing well after treatment and can be discharged anytime, but he is staying there to go through some post-treatment tests," Vice Finance Minister Masakazu Hayashi told a news conference. "The hospital has recommended that he begin work next week, but to commute from the hospital. He is expected to return to work on Tuesday."
Hayashi said that a decision on whether Shiokawa will attend a meeting of Group of Seven finance ministers expected to be held in Dubai next week will be made during the first half of the week.
Shiokawa was hospitalized Sept. 3, complaining of stomach problems. He was later diagnosed with acute gallbladder inflammation caused by gallstones.