Heizo Takenaka was reappointed to his positions in charge of banking and economic policy by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and said he'll push ahead with efforts to clean up US$384 billion of bad loans at Japanese lenders.
"Bad loans have started to fall significantly," Takenaka told reporters in Tokyo after being reappointed financial services minister and minister for economic and fiscal policy.
PHOTO: REUTERS
"It's necessary to continue pushing ahead with restructuring," he said.
Koizumi reshuffled his Cabinet yesterday in preparation for a general election after keeping his post as head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) last Saturday. He named Sadakazu Tanigaki, a 58-year lawyer, to replace Masajuro Shiokawa as finance minister.
The appointments signal that Koizumi will take on opponents within his ruling party and fulfill two-and-a half-year old pledges to curb spending, clean up bad loans choking Japan's banks and take other steps to restart the world's second-largest economy after three recessions in 12 years, investors said.
"Keeping Takenaka suggests that Koizumi is set on pursuing the structural reforms that he's made central to his policy," said Taiji Yoshida, who helps manage the equivalent of US$23.8 billion in assets at Yasuda Capital Management Co in Tokyo.
"Now the onus is on Koizumi to actually carry out some of the policies that he has been advocating," he said.
"Markets were afraid that reforms in the banking sector would be watered down if a conservative politician took over the banking regulator's job," said Nozomu Kunishige, a bank analyst at BNP Paribas Securities Japan.
Japan's economy expanded at an annual rate of 3.9 percent in the second quarter, the fastest pace since Koizumi took office in April 2001, as Toyota Motor Corp, Sharp Corp and other exporters increased capital investment to meet growing demand for Japanese cars and flat-screen televisions in the US and other markets.
Tanigaki, currently in charge of the Industrial Revitalization Corp of Japan, must pursue two potentially contradictory goals, analysts said: curbing the developed world's largest public debt while also protecting a recovery from the nation's third recession in 12 years.
"Koizumi has already mapped out the country's fiscal and economic policy and promised to keep spending tight, so there is little room left for a new finance minister to maneuver," said Akio Yoshino, who helps manage the equivalent of US$14 billion in assets at SG Yamaichi Asset Management Co.
Tanigaki will also direct Japan's currency policy. Japan sold a record ?9.03 trillion (US$80.5 billion) between January and July to stem the yen's strength and protect profits of exporters such as Toyota and Sharp, whose sales have driven the economic recovery.
Shiokawa cut spending on roads, bridges and other public works by 10 percent in the fiscal year that ended on March 31. The cuts angered LDP leaders who have long favored public works spending to stimulate the economy.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
SECURITY RISK: If there is a conflict between China and Taiwan, ‘there would likely be significant consequences to global economic and security interests,’ it said China remains the top military and cyber threat to the US and continues to make progress on capabilities to seize Taiwan, a report by US intelligence agencies said on Tuesday. The report provides an overview of the “collective insights” of top US intelligence agencies about the security threats to the US posed by foreign nations and criminal organizations. In its Annual Threat Assessment, the agencies divided threats facing the US into two broad categories, “nonstate transnational criminals and terrorists” and “major state actors,” with China, Russia, Iran and North Korea named. Of those countries, “China presents the most comprehensive and robust military threat