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G20:MOF Noda:Strict Surveillance Could Trouble Some Countries

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland -(Dow Jones)- Japanese Senior Vice Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda said Saturday that the Group of 20 leading economies shouldn't be too ambitious coordinating policies to achieve sustained and balanced growth.

The project would be "beneficial" if it helps member nations understand each other's policy through frank discussions, Noda said at a joint press conference with Bank of Japan Gov. Masaaki Shirakawa after the end of a two-day meeting of G20 finance officials.

"And I believe - this is an important point - that instead of taking an excessively ambitious approach, we should start out the project as a realistic process and move forward while having discussions (within the members)," he said. "That would be an appropriate approach."

Noda's comments may be an indication that Japan doesn't want any strict international policy coordination to limit its room for maneuver in steering economic policy.

Shirakawa, meanwhile, said he told the G-20 members that the BOJ will continue its low-interest-rate policy until Japan's economic recovery firmly takes hold.

-By Takashi Nakamichi, Dow Jones Newswires; 813-6895-7558; takashi.nakamichi@ dowjones.com

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  11-07-091316ET
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