Toshihiko Fukui

- Financial markets have settled down somewhat after the last few months of turmoil, but the problems are not over yet, Bank of Japan Governor Toshihiko Fukui said late on Thursday, hours before a Group of Seven meeting. Japanese Finance Minister Fukushiro Nukaga added that Friday's G7 meeting of finance officials will be crucial for discussing the impact of the market turbulence, adding that Japan would tell its G7 peers that it wants to play a role in underpinning stable economic growth in the world. "Financial markets are slowly improving, but problems have yet to be solved," Fukui told reporters in Washington. Global financial ... Read Full Story

Japan's Opposition DPJ rejected two government nominees for BOJ Governor; Analysis by Yukio Hatoyama, DPJ Secretary General; Masaaki Shirakawa as Interim BOJ Governor; Analysis by Toshihiko Fukui, Former BOJ Governor; Under Fukui the Bank of Japan ended its zero interest rate policy Read Full Story

- Japan's trade surplus narrowed in July as automobile exports cooled, heightening concern that growth in the world's second-largest economy may slow. The surplus fell 21.1 percent to 671.2 billion yen ($5.9 billion), the Finance Ministry said in Tokyo today. The median estimate of 35 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for 844 billion yen. A U.S. housing crisis sparked a global sell-off of shares and drove the yen to a 4 1/2 month high last week, prompting concern that profit at exporters including Toyota Motor Corp. will be hurt by waning U.S. demand and a stronger currency. Exports have driven Japan's longest economic ... Read Full Story

-- Bank of Japan Governor Toshihiko Fukui may say no to an interest-rate increase this week. It won't be his last word on the subject. Even before the market turmoil of last week, capped off by the U.S. Federal Reserve's surprise Aug. 17 move to lower the interest rate it charges banks, investors were betting BOJ policy makers would forgo an increase at their Aug. 22-23 meeting. Still, the 71-year-old Fukui, now in the final months of his term, remains determined to secure his legacy of ``normalizing'' monetary policy by raising the lowest borrowing costs in the industrialized world. ``If Fukui can't raise rates ... Read Full Story

The global economy is deteriorating rapidly and financial markets remain under heavy pressure, according to Bank of Japan governor Masaaki Shirakawa. "The global financial markets remain, on the whole, under heavy strain," Shirakawa told a meeting of branch managers. "The global economy -- including emerging countries that had been relatively buoyant until recently -- is slowing down rapidly," he added. Japan's economy "is worsening and is likely to face tougher conditions" as exports weaken because of the global economic downturn, Shirakawa said. Domestic investment, consumer demand and production are all weakening, he said, according to a summary of his speech released by the BoJ. ... Read Full Story