TOKYO: The Japanese government called on people to stay calm after the country’s benchmark Nikkei 225 stock index posted its biggest one-day point loss ever on Monday.

“It is crucial to stay calm,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters at the prime minister’s office.

The Japanese economy is showing positive signs, Hayashi said, citing an average increase of over 5 pct in monthly wages agreed in this year’s “shunto” spring labor-management negotiations, among others.

The government will steer economic and fiscal policy appropriately while closely watching economic and financial market developments at home and abroad, he said.

A medium-ranking member of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party said that Prime Minister Fumio Kishida should speak in public to calm fears.

Kenta Izumi, leader of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, in a comment on X expressed his party’s readiness to grill the government and the Bank of Japan before parliament about their response to the stock market rout.

JIJI Press