Japan will continue close dialogue with markets, finance minister says on rising yields

ASHEVILLE, North Carolina, Sept 1 : Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said on Tuesday the government will continue close dialogue with markets, when asked by reporters about the rise in the benchmark 10-year Japanese government bond yield above the key 3 per cent mark overnight.

"Japan will continue efforts to simultaneously achieve strong growth and fiscal sustainability," Katayama said on the sidelines of the G20 finance leaders' gathering in Asheville, North Carolina.

Japan's benchmark 10-year bond yield hit 3 per cent in Tokyo on Tuesday for the first time since September 1996, pushed higher by investor concerns about inflation, fiscal health and mounting pressure on the central bank to raise interest rates faster.

A fan of loose fiscal and monetary policy, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has laid out an ambitious spending plan aimed at boosting investment in growth areas and cushioning the blow to households from the rising cost of living.

The focus on big spending has unnerved investors, causing a rise in yields that inflates the cost of funding Japan's huge debt-pile.

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