Finance Minister Taro Aso and Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda pledged on Friday to deploy all necessary fiscal and monetary policy tools to combat the widening economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
After a rare bilateral meeting, the two issued a joint statement committing to do "whatever it takes" to facilitate corporate financing and stabilize markets as part of efforts to cushion the blow from the health crisis.
"Japan's economy is in an extremely severe state and we need to pull out of this situation as soon as we can," Aso told reporters after the meeting.