Tokyo, March 12 (Bloomberg) -- Japan is ready to take ``appropriate actions'' on the yen if needed, Hiroshi Watanabe, head of the Japanese Finance Ministry's international department, said in parliament. ``We are closely watching movements of foreign exchange rates,'' Watanabe told a parliamentary committee. Foreign exchange rates should move in a stable manner, reflecting economic fundamentals, to ``prevent unexpected damage'' to ``those who raise funds in the currency market,'' he said. The yen was at 117.45 against the dollar at 2:01 p.m. in Tokyo from 117.14 in New York late Tuesday.
The yen's almost 10 percent gain versus its U.S. counterpart in the past year erodes profits for exporters such as Canon Inc., which earns three-quarters of revenue abroad, slowing economic growth. Exports accounted for half of the nation's 0.5 percent economic growth last quarter. The Bank of Japan sold a total of about 1.2 trillion yen ($10.2 billion) in January and February at the behest of the Ministry of Finance. Hirohide Yamaguchi, a senior Bank of Japan official, told the same committee that there is no need for the central bank to expand its monthly government bond purchases from 1.2 trillion yen. ``For now, we don't think it's necessary to buy more government bonds to carry out our fund injection smoothly,'' he said. //www.quote.bloomberg.com