• Most Popular
  • Most Shared

Japan trade minister apologizes for GDP leak

TOKYO
Sun Nov 15, 2009 10:09pm EST
Japan's Trade Minister Masayuki Naoshima speaks at a news conference during the APEC Summit in Singapore November 11, 2009 REUTERS/Michael Fiala

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Trade Minister Masayuki Naoshima apologized for speaking about third-quarter GDP data to oil industry executives on Monday ahead of its official release.

"I'm sorry. I honestly didn't know it was due to be released at 8:50 a.m. (6:50 p.m. EDT) so I thought it would be OK to talk about it," Naoshima told reporters.

"I apologize for causing trouble and I'll be careful from now on."

Naoshima added that he told the industry officials about the GDP figures because people were concerned about the state of the economy.

(Reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto; Writing by Chris Gallagher; Editing by Rodney Joyce)


More from Reuters

Photo

JAL likely to choose Delta over American: report

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan Airlines Corp is likely to choose Delta Air Lines as its overseas partner, ending its ties with American Airlines and the Oneworld alliance, Japan's Asahi newspaper reported on Friday.

» More Top News
U.S. President Barack Obama attends the morning plenery session of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP15) at the Bella Center in Copenhagen, Denmark, December 18, 2009. REUTERS/Larry Downing

Time running out on climate

President Barack Obama met world leaders in Copenhagen in a bid to reach a new global climate agreement after all-night talks failed.   Full Article | Video 

Climate conference
Pedestrians are reflected in a Citigroup window in Boston, Massachusetts. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

Citi's next challenge

Citigroup's plan to extract itself from the government's clutches didn't go as planned. For the bank to succeed, one of two things need to happen.  Full Article 

ECONOMY