TOKYO: Japanese Finance Minister SUZUKI Shunichi on Monday emphasized the importance of making decisions calmly, after the benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average posted a record one-day point loss.
“I think it’s important to take decisions calmly, and we will continue to monitor developments in the domestic and overseas economies and financial markets with a high sense of urgency,” Suzuki told reporters at the finance ministry.
On the yen’s rapid appreciation, which is considered a factor behind the stock market rout, the minister said that it is preferable for exchange rates to move in a stable way. He declined to comment on whether the yen’s latest jump was an abrupt movement, while noting that he will closely monitor developments.
He said that the Financial Services Agency is gathering and analyzing information about the stock market crash and is working with others on the matter.
“We will watch it closely with a sense of urgency while cooperating with the Bank of Japan,” said Suzuki, who also serves as financial services minister.
The minister called on people to “make calm investment decisions while considering the importance of long-term, periodic and diversified investments,” as concerns have grown among those who began investing in stocks after the Nippon Individual Savings Account, or NISA, tax-exemption program was expanded in January.
JIJI Press