综合一区欧美国产,99国产麻豆免费精品,九九精品黄色录像,亚洲激情青青草,久久亚洲熟妇熟,中文字幕av在线播放,国产一区二区卡,九九久久国产精品,久久精品视频免费

Global General

Special

Newsmaker

Asia Pacific

America

Middle East

Europe

Africa

Japan finance minister denies drinking at G7

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-02-16 10:39

TOKYO - Japanese Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa denied on Monday he drank alcohol ahead of a Group of Seven gathering in Rome and said cold medicine had affected his performance at a news conference after the weekend meeting.

Japan's Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa speaks to reporters after the G7 finance ministers meeting in Rome February 14, 2009. [Agencies]

Related readings:  G7 rejects protectionism, urges measures to back growth  G7 strains to couple crisis response and free trade  G7 to eye 'Buy American' policy: Canada  Japan could be first G7 nation to see recovery

"To tell you the truth, my cold medicine was having a big effect," Nakagawa told reporters in Tokyo after returning from the Italian capital.

"I wouldn't drink before a G7 meeting," he said, sniffling repeatedly.

At the news conference with Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa after the G7 meeting in Rome, Nakagawa yawned and his speech sounded slurred.

At one point during the news conference, Nakagawa, his head down and eyes closed, mistook a question directed to the central bank governor as one for him.

Japanese television broadcasters and several national newspapers issued news stories calling attention to Nakagawa's appearance at the news conference.

Nakagawa, who took up his post last September, is a close ally of Prime Minister Taro Aso, whose cabinet is suffering from dwindling public support ahead of an election due this year.

Data on Monday showed Japan's economy shrank in the last quarter of 2008 by its most since the first oil crisis in 1974, hit by an unprecedented slump in exports.