G20 officials will disregard key parts of a currency statement issued this week by the Group of Seven powers, according to a communique drafted for finance leaders meeting in Moscow, and will not single out Japan, Reuters reported. A G20 delegate who has seen the draft - put together by deputy finance ministers for their bosses - said it would also make no direct mention of new debt-cutting targets, something Germany is pressing for but which the United States wanted struck out. If adopted by G20 finance ministers and central bankers meeting in Moscow on Friday and Saturday, the wording will confirm that Japan will escape any censure for its expansionary policies which have driven the yen lower and drawn demands for action from some quarters. The G20 draft merely sticks to previous G20 language on the need to avoid excessive foreign exchange volatility, the delegate said. The yen has fallen by around 20 percent since November. Having firmed earlier on Friday, it turned tail and dropped 0.6 percent against the dollar and euro in response to the communique details. One senior G20 source said any reference to targeting exchange rates was not be acceptable to China, which is now the world's second-largest economy and holds much of its $3.3 trillion in foreign reserves in U.S. Treasury bonds. -- SPA
