By Makiko Yamazaki
(Reuters) – Japan has no plans to threaten to promote its $1 trillion-plus holdings of U.S. Treasuries in commerce talks with Washington, its finance minister mentioned on Sunday, clarifying earlier remarks that the bond holdings may very well be used as a bargaining chip.
“My feedback have been made in response to a query whether or not Japan might, as a bargaining device in commerce negotiations, explicitly reassure Washington it would not promote its Treasury holdings simply,” Japanese Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato mentioned.
“The feedback weren’t meant to counsel promoting Treasury holdings,” Kato instructed a press convention in Milan.
In a tv interview on Friday, Kato mentioned Japan’s U.S. Treasury holdings may very well be used as a card in commerce negotiations, elevating explicitly for the primary time its leverage as a large creditor to the US.
Kato within the interview added whether or not Japan really makes use of that card is a distinct query.
On the press convention on Sunday, Kato repeated that the first objective of Japan’s U.S. Treasury holdings – the most important on the earth – is to make sure it has ample liquidity to conduct yen intervention when obligatory.
“This has been our stance, and we do not plan to make use of sale of U.S. Treasury holdings as a bargaining device within the negotiations,” he mentioned.
(Reporting by Makiko Yamazaki; Modifying by Giles Elgood)
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