	lawson says some countries could cut rates nigel lawson britain s chancellor of the exchequer said some countries may need to cut  rates with the aim of maintaining exchange rate stability speaking to journalists one day after the group of seven countries reaffirmed goals set in paris six weeks ago he said central banks would continue to intervene as and when necessary he said the g countries were concerned that japan do more to stimulate domestic demand and welcomed measures outlined by japanese finance minister kiichi miyazawa yesterday lawson said he was still worried about the risk of a simultaneous recession in the united states japan and west germany though less so than when he gave his march budget speech to the british parliament if anything i m a little bit less concerned but there is still a risk he said asked if the united states should consider increasing  rates to support the dollar he said if there is a need for changes in relative  rates it doesn t need to be a rise in  rates in the united states lawson said there was some concern expressed in yesterday s meetings at the slow progress the united states had made in reducing its budget deficit we believe there will be some worthwhile progress in reducing the deficit this year the important thing is that it continue year after year lawson said the february louvre accord called for efforts to stabilize currencies at then current exchange rates in the six weeks that followed the japanese yen continued to rise against the dollar despite massive central bank intervention asked whether this intervention was a sign of weakness in the louvre accord he said i don t think so if there had been no intervention you would have called that a sign of weakness although intervention could be a cause of inflation lawson said the world does not appear to be in an inflationary mode but one has to be vigilant he said yesterday s g statement which affirmed that current levels of exchange rates were appropriate had been carefully worded we know what we mean and we all mean the same thing he said lawson said financial markets seem to believe that japanese measures outlined in the louvre accord were the source of weakness for that agreement therefore the g countries welcomed miyazawa s presentation of plans for a supplemental budget to stimulate domestic demand they particularly welcomed the goal of an immediate increase in public works spending but lawson said the package also involved a second stage to increase expenditures during the second half of this year reuter 
