US, Japanese officials meet ahead of APEC meeting in Hong Kong
TLT•US and Japanese officials met in Bangkok ahead of an APEC finance ministers' meeting in Hong Kong on October 20-21. US Treasury Undersecretary Erin Browne said Japan's yen level and monetary policy should reflect the end of its long-running deflationary environment.
1. Officials discuss markets
Browne and Treasury Deputy Secretary Francis Brooke met Japan's vice minister of finance, Atsushi Mimura, on the sidelines of IMF-World Bank meetings in Bangkok, a Treasury official said. Browne said US and Japanese officials worked closely to support stable, well-functioning markets and would continue to communicate.
2. Browne on yen and policy
Browne said Japan no longer faces the deflationary environment that lasted for more than a decade, and that the yen level and monetary policy path must change along with that. She also warned that sharp, disorderly currency moves can create wider consequences, including investor position unwinds, volatility across markets and potentially higher financing costs in the United States and globally.
3. APEC meeting ahead
Brooke, Browne and other US Treasury officials were scheduled to travel from Bangkok to Hong Kong for an APEC finance ministers' meeting on October 20-21.
