Reply #39: Japan vows action; U.S., Europe split ahead of G20

[Ghost Dog]

TOKYO, March 10 (Reuters) - Japan pledged on Tuesday to do whatever it takes to drag its ailing economy out of recession as a rift emerged between the United States and Europe over whether governments have done enough to fight the financial crisis.

Finance ministers from the G20 group of rich nations and big emerging powers meet at the weekend to prepare for a summit in London on April 2, where leaders hope to present a united front in tackling the worst economic crisis in decades.

"We'd like to act based on an agreement of countries across the globe that each nation will take whatever steps necessary to achieve an economic recovery," said Japanese Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano.

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Yosano's comments appeared to put Japan in step with the United States, which seemed to suggest other major nations should step up their efforts to battle the crisis.

"We're doing more in weeks than other countries do in years," U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told Reuters after briefing U.S. lawmakers on the administration's economic stimulus and financial stability programmes.

On Monday Lawrence Summers, U.S. President Barack Obama's chief economic adviser, had urged governments to pump more money into their economies to counter recession.

But that call was rejected when euro zone finance minister met the same day in Brussels.

"The 16 finance ministers agreed that recent American appeals insisting Europeans make an added budgetary effort were not to our liking, given that we are not prepared to go further in the recovery packages we have put forward," said Jean-Claude Juncker, who chaired the meeting. "We take the view that we don't need to make a further effort at the moment."

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Analysts say Japanese banks, while not as badly mauled by the global financial crisis as Western peers, could hoard cash and be forced into a fresh round of capital raising soon as sliding stock prices swell their losses.

Yosano, who also holds the economy portfolio, said after a cabinet meeting that the government would consider steps such as issuing deficit-covering bonds to fund additional fiscal stimulus.

Japanese government bonds 2JGBv1 fell on worries about an increase in government debt issuance.

/... http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idINSP47369420090310?rpc=44&sp=true