WASHINGTON (AFP) – The International Monetary Fund said on Thursday that Japan has the financial means to recover from a devastating earthquake and ensuing massive tsunami.

 

As the official toll of the dead and missing after Friday’s quake and tsunami flattened Japan’s northeast coast topped 15,000, the IMF stressed that Japanese authorities were taking the right steps to deal with the disaster.

 

“The most important impact on Japan is the humanitarian one,” Caroline Atkinson, an IMF spokeswoman, said at a news conference.

 

“The most important policy priority is to address the humanitarian needs, the infrastructure needs and reconstruction and addressing the nuclear situation,” she said.

“We believe that the Japanese economy is a strong and wealthy society and the government has the full financial resources to address those needs.”

 

In addressing the issues of the impact of the disaster on the world’s third-largest economy, the direction the Japanese authorities has taken “is the appropriate policy,” she said.

 

On the fiscal side, the most important goals were to “revive the Japanese economy and get growth.”

 

Asked whether Japan had asked for IMF assistance, Atkinson said: “Japan has not requested any financial assistance from the IMF.”

Source: AFP