Selected editorial excerpts from the Japanese press:
G-7 REMAINS KEY FRAMEWORK (The Daily Yomiuri as translated from The Yomiuri Shimbun)
The meeting of financial leaders of the Group of Seven industrial powers that was held in Iqaluit, Canada, last week gave the impression that the G-7 has reached a turning point, in that the latest meeting did not release a joint communique for the first time in 12-1/2 years.
The G-7 meeting originates from an unofficial meeting of the Group of Five leading industrialized nations. This financial meeting boosted its presence in 1985, when the G-5 nations--Japan, Britain, France, the United States and West Germany--signed the Plaza Accord, in which they agreed to depreciate the U.S. dollar.
Since then, the G-7 meeting has maintained its position as the most influential international economic conference by repeatedly issuing communiques concerning exchange rate fluctuations and economic policy management.
But the G-7's roles started being handed down to the framework of the Group of 20 nations, which include China and India, after the global financial crisis in the autumn of 2008. The G-7 is expected to become an unofficial meeting at which ministers of leading countries can exchange views frankly.
But it will be difficult for the large G-20 to swiftly respond to emergencies, including rapid fluctuations in exchange markets. The roles of the relatively agile G-7 will remain important.
What the G-7 must do now is stabilize the global economy, which was hit hard by the financial crisis, and contribute to formulating a framework to prevent a similar crisis.
In many cases, the post of the Japanese finance minister, who attends G-7 meetings, has been filled by politicians who do not necessarily have much expertise in financial and fiscal matters and who tend to have relatively short terms in office, making it difficult for them to have in-depth discussions with experienced European and U.S. financial chiefs.
In the new G-7 era, the Japanese finance minister should be selected from among experts in economic policy and have abundant experience. (Feb. 9)
