Quotes following yesterday’s Cabinet meeting

June 13, 2007
By Ken Worsley

From Minister of State for Economic and Fiscal Policy Hiroko Ota:

There is some weakness in industrial production, and this situation hasn’t changed. Consumer spending is recovering, but not yet so strong…Japan has not yet entirely escaped deflation…

Finance Minister Koji Omi:

The economies, domestic as well as overseas, are recovering steadily and I personally think, as I have said many times, Japan is not in deflation…I have been saying that the government wants the BOJ to support the economy with policy, although individual rate actions are up to the BOJ…As the minister in charge of getting the government’s fiscal condition back into health, I will act on the assumption that interest rates will rise in the mid- to long-term.

One has to wonder if Omi and Bank of Japan Governor Toshihiko Fukui even bother keeping Ota in the loop. Fukui would obviously survive a sudden end to the Abe Cabinet (his job isn’t tied to the Prime Minister, and he’s due to step down in a few months anyway), and Omi would be likely to do so. Ota? She has a nice warm seat waiting for her back at Keio University and unlike most Cabinet ministers, is not an elected member of Parliament. Also, she’s not a really old guy.

Filed Under Cabinet Office, Consumer Spending, Economics, Inflation

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