Press Conference by Shizuka Kamei, Minister for Financial Services

(Excerpt)

(Tuesday, February 9, 2010, from 6:43 p.m. to 6:47 p.m.)

Q.

Although this is not a matter directly under your jurisdiction, do you have any comment on Toyota Motor's announcement of a recall of 400,000 vehicles worldwide?

A.

You know, Toyota is a global company. I hope that the company will get over this problem.

Q.

Do you expect any impact on the Japanese economy?

A.

There will probably be some impact. In any case, Japan has always overcome various difficulties. It must overcome this one.

Q.

Stock prices (Topix and Nikkei 225) have dropped considerably these days, and what do you think…

A.

Today, someone was joking that “whenever Mr. Kamei says something, stock prices will drop” or something like that. The Japanese market is directly affected by the situation in the United States. While there are problems like that, essentially, stock prices will not rise unless the Japanese economy steadies itself, regardless of impacts from other countries, particularly the United States. Basically, this is related to the real economy.

However, nowadays, stock prices may show wild swings irrespective of the condition of the real economy in some cases. In any case, what's important is that the real economy steadies itself. Ultimately, the government must implement policy measures to that end.

(End)