ECB rhetoric shift a welcome step - G7 source

TOKYO, Feb 8 (Reuters) - The European Central Bank's change of rhetoric after a rate review on Thursday is a welcome step in the right direction, a Group of Seven government official said.

The official said a G7 meeting in Tokyo on Saturday would primarily focus on policy responses to the deteriorating international economic climate and, as such, discussions on the foreign exchange rate language of the G7's end-of-meeting communique would be somewhat less important in Tokyo than in previous G7 meetings.

"Exchange rates will be less important this time than discussions on the economic climate and responses to the crisis," the source, speaking to a couple of reporters in Tokyo, said.

Regarding the ECB, the source said Thursday's news conference declarations constituted "a change that goes in the right direction".

Financial markets interpreted comments by European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet on Thursday as putting more emphasis on risks to economic growth in the euro zone, which they took to mean ECB interest rate cuts might be more likely.