Japan Govt Considering Setting Up Share-Buying Body

Tokyo, Feb. 24 (Jiji Press)--Japan's government and ruling
coalition have begun considering setting up an institution for buying shares
with the use of private-sector funds, in an effort to halt relentless falls
in Japanese stock prices, Jiji Press learned Tuesday.
The move comes as the benchmark Nikkei average slipped below its
post-bubble closing low of 7,162.90, marked on Oct. 27 last year,
temporarily on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Tuesday.
Now that the March 31 end of fiscal 2008 is approaching, the
government and ruling parties are expected to accelerate discussions on the
share-buying scheme, informed sources said.
Specifically, the Ministry of Finance and the Financial Services
Agency are discussing the possible use of private-sector money as resources
for share buying by the envisaged institution because such a scheme does not
require law revision, the sources said.
Officials of the MOF and the FSA appear to have in mind
share-buying institutions created jointly by banks and brokerage houses to
cope with the stock market slump in 1964, the sources said.
Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano indicated on Tuesday the government
may need to study measures to prop up stock prices.
Fujio Mitarai, chairman of the Japan Business Federation (Nippon
Keidanren), on Monday called on the government to create a body to purchase
stocks with public funds to shore up the equity market.
But no country has launched a government-led share-buying scheme in
the current financial crisis, while there are skeptical views about the
effectiveness of a share-buying body, the sources said.