G7 meeting kicks off; can Japan win an endorsement for fiscal stimulus?

G7 finance ministers and central bankers meeting got underway with a closed door brainstorming session between the officials and eminent economists. Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso said the discussions would focus on fiscal and monetary policy, the international financial system, sustainable development and issues such as money laundering and tax evasion.

A debt relief deal for Greece and Britain's referendum on its future in the European Union could also be on the agenda.

The meeting is unlikely to generate any major market shocks. The market’s main focus is on how much support, or opposition, Japan’s desire for currency intervention receives. With monetary policies yielding only middling results, Japan increasingly has favoured more pro-active fiscal stimulus.

Japan is keen to win an endorsement for its position that fiscal stimulus is the way to kickstart the world economy, after a rally in the yen hit the country's exporters and worsened a slowdown at home. Japan's inclination towards fiscal stimulus is increasingly at odds with Germany’s pro-austerity stance.