Forex Investment and Currency Trading

 TOKYO, June 11 (Reuters) - The Group of Eight finance ministers may discuss currencies at their gathering in Japan this week but are unlikely to include the issue in their communique, a senior Japanese Ministry of Finance official said on Wednesday.

 
 Tumultuous currency markets have kept investors on their toes after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke continued his tough talk on inflation and U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson declined to rule out market intervention to stabilise the dollar.

The dollar hit a 3-1/2-month peak versus the yen as Bernanke’s remarks were followed by an unexpected barrage of remarks from U.S. officials saying they are keeping an eye on the U.S. currency while leaving options open for dollar-buying intervention to stem its slide.

Asked about how the G8 finance minister will tackle the issue, the Japanese official said: “We may discuss currencies as part of debate on the macro-economy.”

“But unlike the G7, central bank governors will not participate in the meeting, so I don’t expect currency issues to be included in the communique,” he told reporters.

Finance ministers from the G8, which groups Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States and Russia, will also discuss issues including soaring commodities prices, financial markets, climate change and development in Africa, he said.

“The world economy as a whole is still in an uncertain situation,” the official said.

The official said he expects the G8 meeting to tackle issues such as falling housing prices in the United States while assessing financial markets, banks’ tight lending attitudes and rising inflation expectations in Europe.

Financial markets have improved slightly in the West since March and the danger of systemic risks has declined to some extent, but short-term credit markets are still strained, he added.

“It is too early to say that financial market turmoil stemming from subprime problems is close to an end,” he said.

The G8 finance ministers will meet on Friday and Saturday in Osaka, western Japan, to prepare for the G8 leaders’ summit in July.

Representatives from Australia, Thailand, South Korea, China and Brazil will join the finance ministers for an “outreach” meeting on the sidelines of the G8 meeting to discuss rising commodity prices and climate change on Friday and Saturday, the official said.