JAPAN SEEKS TO STRENGTHEN PARIS CURRENCY ACCORD
Japan will seek to strengthen the
Paris accord on currency stability at the meeting of the group
of seven leading industrial nations tomorrow, Japanese
officials said.
    However, the officials travelling with Japanese Finance
Minister Kiichi Miyazawa and who asked not to be identified,
would not provide any details of how they wanted the accord,
which was signed by the six leading industrial democracies in
February, to be strengthened.
    Currency target zones, or reference ranges, will not be
discussed at the G-7 meeting which is scheduled for tomorrow,
the Japanese officials said.
    The meeting, which is being held in conjunction with this
week's International Monetary Fund/World Bank sessions, will
reaffirm the currency pact and there is no need for changing 
the language used in the Paris accord, the officials said.
    Miyazawa met with U.S. Treasury Secretary James Baker early
in this afternoon and discussed the dollar/yen exchange rates,
officials said, but they declined to disclosed the details of
that discussion.
    The Japanese officials also declined to detail what
Miyazawa and Baker discussed on the subject of greater joint
intervention in currency markets to stabilize the dollar or on
independent American intervention.
    The officials said such a money market action to stabilize
the dollar is not only for the benefit of Japan, which is
suffering from a sharp appreciation in its currency, but also
for the benefit of the United States as well.
    As to U.S. urgings for Japan to take steps to boost its
domestic demand to reduce its trade surplus, Japan will explain
economic measures to the G-7, the officials said.
    However, Miyazawa failed to outline the size of the
Japanese economic package in his meeting with Baker today
because the Japanese 1987/88 budget has not been authorized by
the Diet, or parliament, despite the new fiscal year which
started April one, the officials said.
    Japan's ruling liberal democratic party revealed its own
economic package today calling for more than 5,000 billion yen
in additional spending.
 Reuter
