Japan Offers to Help Out Nations That Need Cash

TOKYO -- Japan's finance minister said his country -- flush with nearly $1 trillion in foreign-exchange reserves -- is prepared to help bail out nations running out of funds amid the worsening global financial crisis.

Speaking in advance of Friday's Group of Seven meeting of finance and central bank officials in Washington, Japanese Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa said he will call on the International Monetary Fund to set up a program to extend loans to nations in need of rescue.

"We are ready to provide our funds to the IMF," Mr. Nakagawa said.

Such a move would send a lifeline to countries like Iceland, where the government's efforts to bail out the country's three biggest banks has pushed the small nation to the edge of bankruptcy.


It would also be the latest evidence of Japan's rising global influence during the deepening economic turmoil. Japanese banks have come to the rescue of some of America's largest financial institutions. Mitsubishi UFG Financial Group is set to acquire 21% of Morgan Stanley. Nomura Holdings Inc. has acquired some of the Asian, European and Middle East operations of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.

If Japan's proposed bailout plan is successful in stemming global financial hemorrhaging and stabilizing overseas markets, it would help boost Japan's flagging export-driven economy.

Mr. Nakagawa didn't outline details of his proposal or how Japan would pay for it. One obvious source of funds that Japan could tap is the government's foreign reserves, which totaled $954 billion at the end of the year. Japan has the world's second largest reserve after China's $1.54 trillion, according to the Central Intelligence Agency's World Factbook.

Providing money for a global bailout plan would help end a longstanding debate over how Japan should put its huge foreign reserves to use. Some politicians have criticized the government for failing to invest the funds more aggressively.

Japan's proposal comes after the Nikkei 225 Stock Average dropped nearly 12% at one point on Friday. The yen also rose briefly to a seven-month high of 97.91 yen versus the dollar.

"We are going to take whatever steps are needed in order to deal with every possibility" that could further hurt market conditions, Mr. Nakagawa told reporters.

—Tomoyuki Tachikawa contributed to this article.
Write to John Murphy at john.murphy@wsj.com