Japan's new finance minister says coordination with BOJ needed for effective policies

Japan's new finance minister, Satsuki Katayama, said on Wednesday that it is necessary for the government and the Bank of Japan to coordinate to make economic and monetary policies effective.

Katayama declined to comment when asked about the timing of the central bank's potential rate hike, saying that it is up to the BOJ on specifics of monetary policy.

With regards to the yen's weakness, she said a weak yen could generally push up the cost of food and other daily necessities and weigh on households and businesses. "Because of that, we need to be quick to launch measures to help tackle inflation," she said.