The new government will continue working closely with the Bank of Japan, at least more frequently than the previous administration did, in order to fend off deflation, newly appointed Finance Minister Taro Aso said Friday.
Speaking during a joint interview with The Japan Times and other media outlets, the former prime minister, who also doubles as financial services minister in the new Liberal Democratic Party administration, was quick to snipe at the previous government, led by the Democratic Party of Japan.
"How many times did the finance minister meet with the BOJ governor under the previous administration? No one knows, because it was so rare," Aso said, suggesting that lack of mutual communication between the two was a reason deflation wasn't curbed during the previous 3½ years.