UK's Darling says dollar a worry

TOKYO (Reuters) - British finance minister Alistair Darling said on Friday that some countries were worried about the effects of the falling dollar but that policymakers in Tokyo this weekend should focus on matters they can influence directly.

Asked about possible calls to stem the dollar's weakness at Saturday's meeting of Group of Seven finance ministers and central bank governors, Darling told Reuters in an interview: "Undoubtedly there are a number of countries that are concerned, but for our part we don't comment on individual countries' exchange rates."

Turning to the global economy, Darling said: "We are going through a very difficult time, but we can get through this."

G7 financial heads meet in Tokyo on Saturday to discuss the global economy amid U.S. recession fears, international market turmoil and exchange rate swings.

Darling earlier played down the prospect of any coordinated steps to boost global growth at the G7.

"The first thing is that conditions in different countries are not the same," he said.

While aggressive interest rate cuts in the United States and U.S. President George Bush's fiscal stimulus package were appropriate there, he said, "other countries are not in the same position."

But he pointed out that the Bank of England had cut rates on Thursday, although the central bank warned that inflation remained a problem.

On ailing British mortgage lender Northern Rock NRK.L, which the government is looking to sell, Darling rejected the notion that the government would favor any particular bid.