Yen rise hurting Japan corporate profits - econ min

TOKYO, March 13 (Reuters) - Japanese Economics Minister Hiroko Ota said on Thursday that a rise in the yen and higher oil prices are beginning to hurt Japanese corporate profits.

Ota was speaking in parliament after the dollar dropped to a 12-year low against the yen amid uncertainty about the long-term impact of the Federal Reserve's efforts to ease strained credit and money markets.

"The yen's rise, a decline in the dollar and rises in oil prices are beginning to have a negative impact on corporate profits. In particular, they are hurting profits at small firms rapidly," Ota told the upper house budget committee. (Reporting by Yoko Nishikawa)