No plans to bail out Japan - IMF

By Jennifer Liberto, senior writer


WASHINGTON (CNNMoney) -- The International Monetary Fund said Thursday that Japan has the financial means to get through this disaster and get on the road to reconstruction and growth.

The IMF, which helps poorer nations get through similar disasters, is watching the situation closely, spokeswoman Caroline Atkinson said in a briefing Thursday. But she added that, so far, IMF leaders believe Japan has taken appropriate steps.

"We do believe that what the Japanese government has been doing on the monetary side to ensure stability of their financial system and doing what is necessary to meet the needs of the people of this crisis is the appropriate policy," she said.

On Monday, the Bank of Japan injected $180 billion into its financial system to shore up the economy to weather the lasting effects of the earthquake, tsunami and possible nuclear disaster.

In the short term, Japan needs to focus on search and rescue, humanitarian and infrastructure demands, the IMF spokesman said. And the IMF considers Japan on strong footing to handle that without financial help.

"It's a strong and wealthy society, and the government has the full financial resources to address those needs," Atkinson said.

Once it gets through the crisis, Japan should see a bump in its growth, as it starts the rebuilding process.

"The most important thing for fiscal space going forward is to revive the Japanese economy and get growth," Atkinson said.

She said that IMF will be releasing new estimates of the Japanese economy and the impact of the disaster on the world economy on April 11.

Atkinson refused to comment on whether IMF was concerned about the rapid appreciation of the Japanese yen, because it considers it a "short-term" effect at this point. To top of page

Just the hot list include
Frontline troops push for solar energy
The U.S. Marines are testing renewable energy technologies like solar to reduce costs and casualties associated with fossil fuels. Play
25 Best Places to find rich singles
Looking for Mr. or Ms. Moneybags? Hunt down the perfect mate in these wealthy cities, which are brimming with unattached professionals. More
Fun festivals: Twins to mustard to pirates!
You'll see double in Twinsburg, Ohio, and Ketchup lovers should beware in Middleton, WI. Here's some of the best and strangest town festivals. Play
Overnight Avg Rate Latest Change Last Week
30 yr fixed3.80%3.88%
15 yr fixed3.20%3.23%
5/1 ARM3.84%3.88%
30 yr refi3.82%3.93%
15 yr refi3.20%3.23%
Rate data provided
by Bankrate.com
View rates in your area
 
Find personalized rates:
Index Last Change % Change
Dow 32,627.97 -234.33 -0.71%
Nasdaq 13,215.24 99.07 0.76%
S&P 500 3,913.10 -2.36 -0.06%
Treasuries 1.73 0.00 0.12%
Data as of 6:29am ET
Company Price Change % Change
Ford Motor Co 8.29 0.05 0.61%
Advanced Micro Devic... 54.59 0.70 1.30%
Cisco Systems Inc 47.49 -2.44 -4.89%
General Electric Co 13.00 -0.16 -1.22%
Kraft Heinz Co 27.84 -2.20 -7.32%
Data as of 2:44pm ET
Sponsors

Sections

Bankrupt toy retailer tells bankruptcy court it is looking at possibly reviving the Toys 'R' Us and Babies 'R' Us brands. More

Land O'Lakes CEO Beth Ford charts her career path, from her first job to becoming the first openly gay CEO at a Fortune 500 company in an interview with CNN's Boss Files. More

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.