A mega-global financial institution for macro-managing the top 3 currencies? Japan PM in France for Money Talks PARIS (AP) -- Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi arrived in France on Wednesday for a three-nation European tour aimed at restoring confidence in Japan's economic policies. There was strong speculation that Obuchi would propose a plan joining the euro with the yen and dollar in a monitoring system to increase stability in international currency markets. ``The ideal would be for responsibility to be divided between the three currencies,'' Obuchi said in a New Year's speech over the weekend in Japan. However, the Japanese minister for economic planning, Taichi Sakaiya, told reporters that his government is not in a position to put forth ``concrete proposals'' on how to regulate currency markets. Japanese leaders are worried that the popularity of the new European currency will hurt their efforts to increase global use of the yen, analysts said. The yen now has around 5 percent of the international currency market. Some commentators voiced skepticism with Japanese efforts. ``Japan's sudden effort to make the yen an international currency comes too late and will be difficult to achieve in the current period of crisis,'' the daily Le Monde said in an editorial published Tuesday. The Japanese premier, in his first state visit to France, will meet with French President Jacques Chirac on Thursday evening and with Prime Minister Lionel Jospin on Friday morning before traveling to Italy and Germany.
