yosano

Mr Yosano said he was concerned that as Japan emerged from a prolonged period of weakness a reaction against reform was occurring.

But Mr Yosano warned it be would wrong to assume such a benign environment would continue indefinitely.

Japan's Kyodo news agency quoted Yosano as saying, Takeo Hiranuma Okada asked whether the minister is willing to act as the abduction issue.

Kaoru Yosano, the new finance minister, said yesterday that it was being considered among measures.

"It is far from what is being reported that the Japanese economy is in a miserable state, " Mr Yosano said.

Given that Japan is the world's second biggest owner of Treasuries, Mr Yosano may have been talking his own book.

A year ago, when the DPJ's Yukio Hatoyama was prime minister, Mr Yosano wrote a book called "The DPJ Destroys Japan's Economy" .

"This is the biggest economic crisis since the war, " said Kaoru Yosano, minister for economic and fiscal policy.

"The Japanese economy has a great deal of resiliency, " Mr Yosano said.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Mr Yosano said there could be no quick fixes through fiscal spending.

"Japan's economy is expected to remain weak for the time being, " said Japanese Economics Minister Kaoru Yosano on Thursday.

With the chief exception of Kaoru Yosano, a fiscal conservative reinstated as economy minister, the cabinet talent is astonishingly thin.

Yosano said, adding that no decisions have been made about when to submit the budget for parliamentary approval.

'The Japanese people should welcome our neighbor, China's growth, ' said Kaoru Yosano, Minister of State For Economy and Fiscal Policy.

Japan's economy, Mr Yosano once wrote, was infected with a grave cancer.

A higher consumption tax, Mr Yosano's favoured remedy, would probably mean less consumption.

The US dollar's position as the world's reserve currency "isn't under threat" , as Mr Yosano said.

That's the only way to wake up from Mr Yosano's "dreadful dream" .

Mr Yosano added that such measures could include setting up a government body to buy shares in the market.

Investors ignored comments from Kaoru Yosano, finance minister, that he was considering support measures such as buying shares.

"DO YOU mind if I smoke? " rasps Kaoru Yosano, 72, a survivor of throat cancer.

"This is the worst economic crisis in the post-war era, " Yosano said ata press conference, according to Japan's Kyodo news agency.

Yosano also said that the yen's rise to a record high against the dollar was "extremely speculative, " according to the report.

In Japan, Kaoru Yosano, economy minister, says he would need a week to consider what to buy.