Japan could avoid a sharp rise in thevalue of the yen against the dollar if Japan, the U.S. And
other nations succeeded in restructuring their economies, an
advisory panel to the government's Economic Planning Agency
(EPA) said.
    The advisory body said in its report that the yen would
soar against the dollar if structural adjustments on a global
basis were delayed.
    An EPA official told Reuters the dollar could fall to
slightly below 100 yen by 1993 if Japan and the U.S. Failed to
restructure their economies.
    The dollar's fall without structural adjustments would cut
Japan's current account surplus to two pct of gross national
product (GNP) in 1993, the report said. It said such a change
would slow real GNP growth to an average of two pct annually
during the seven-year period to 1993.
    If the two nations restructured their economies, the dollar
would remain stable in real terms, while reducing Japan's
current-account surplus to 2.1 pct of GNP in 1993. This
scenario put Japan's GNP growth at 3.5 pct a year.
    It forecast real growth of three pct for the world economy
and four pct for Japan by 2,000 if the adjustments were made.
 REUTER
