‘We can handle it’ says Japan, spurns G7 intervention

Even as the G7 – the group of seven of the world's richest countries – holds a conference on the Japanese crisis today, Japan has firmly refused intervention, saying it is capable of handling the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami that hit the island country on 11 March on its own.

Economics minister Kaoru Yosano said today that Japanese markets have not become destabilised enough to warrant joint G7 currency intervention or government purchases of shares, stressing that the damage to the country's economy would be limited.

The group of seven of the world's leading economies is discussing today (by teleconference between finance ministers) possible steps to calm financial markets roiled by fears about the deepening crisis in Japan.

The meeting of US treasury secretary Timothy Geithner, US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke and the finance ministers and central bankers of the other G7 nations will seek to support Japan's crisis response - including a possible purchase of Japanese bonds to keep money flowing, French finance minister Christine Lagarde told reporters in Paris.

The yen hit a record high against the dollar on Wednesday on expectations that Japanese investors will bring home cash from abroad to help finance reconstruction.

With developed economies still on shaky ground after the economic meltdown of 2009, the Japanese crisis couldn't have come at a worse time for them. "I think the world economy is going to go right down and it has happened at a time when financial markets are still very fragile," a French observer said.