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.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique