Japan, Germany agree to carefully monitor markets, coordinate as needed

Japan and Germany agreed on Saturday to coordinate closely on financial jitters stemming from problems among Western banks while carefully monitoring global markets and economy, a Japanese finance ministry official told Reuters.

The agreement came in a 45-minute meeting between Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki and German Finance Minister Christian Lindner, visiting Tokyo for bilateral government consultations.

Banking stocks globally have been battered since Silicon Valley Bank collapsed and Credit Suisse was forced to tap $54 billion in central bank funding, raising questions about other weaknesses in the financial system.