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Strategies & Market Trends : World Outlook -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Les H who wrote (834)	2/4/2002 12:16:11 AM
From: Don Green	Respond to of 49072

Sony Chairman: Yen Could Fall To Y150-160 To Dollar Monday, February 4, 2002 NEW YORK (Kyodo)--Sony Corp. Chairman Nobuyuki Idei said Sunday he thinks the Japanese currency has been overvalued and he would not be surprised if the yen -- which trades at around 130 yen to the dollar now -- falls to the 150-160 yen range. ''A weak yen is the only effective (economic stimulus) measure. The yen has long been overvalued, considering labor productivity and other economic data,'' Idei told reporters. Idei, in New York to attend the World Economic Forum, defended the weakened yen which he said has brought ''lots of economic benefits,'' including cheaper costs for many Asian debtor countries that have borrowed money from Japan and manufacturers that buy Japanese industrial parts. ''The weakened yen is a good thing in many ways,'' he said. Idei also dispelled concerns that Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's economic reform efforts may be thwarted by a plunge in the support ratings for his cabinet following his sacking of controversial but popular Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka. Various Japanese media surveys show Koizumi's support ratings plunged to under 50% after Tanaka was let go last Tuesday, from the upper 70% range prior to her dismissal. Idei said relying on a high support rating for reform is not necessarily a good thing. ''With a 70% support rating, you feel rather uneasy. You get a good deal of steam off if the support rate gets down to the 40% level,'' he said.