FUKUOKA: Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso said on Sunday he did not raise, at a bilateral meeting with US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, the issue of whether to include a currency provision in a two-way trade deal with the United States.
Mnuchin had said in the past that in future trade deals, including one with Japan, Washington would like to include a provision to deter currency manipulation.
Tokyo has resisted the idea for fear of having its hands tied on measures to address an unwelcome yen spike that would hurt Japan's export-reliant economy.
"I didn't raise the topic. The two countries don't have any issues on this point," Aso told a news conference after a meeting of G20 finance leaders in Fukuoka, southern Japan.
"We did not raise the issue of currencies during our meeting," Aso said, when asked about his meeting on Sunday with Mnuchin held on the sidelines of the G20 gathering.
Aso also said there was no disapproval voiced from his G20 counterparts on Japan's plan to raise its sales tax in October, a move critics warn could push its economy into recession.
"We've explained numerous times we will proceed with the tax hike. There was no opposition" voiced at the G20 meeting, he said, signalling the government's intention to proceed with the tax increase.
A recent batch of weak signs in the economy has given rise to market speculation that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will put off a twice-delayed increase in the sales tax hike, to 10 percent from 8 percent, in October.
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