Japan economics minister says market expectations high

TOKYO: Japanese economics minister Akira Amari said on Thursday that the new government will work hard to meet high market expectations, which he said are behind recent gains in share prices and the yen's weaker trend.

"I believe expectations are high. We will work hard so that expectations will not remain just expectations, and that market expectations are realised," Amari told a news conference.

Shinzo Abe, who took over as prime minister on Wednesday, led his Liberal Democratic Party in a landslide victory in an election this month while pressuring the Bank of Japan for monetary easing to counter protracted deflation.