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TOKYO, Oct 20 (Reuters) - The Group of 20 should share a common view on the need to restrain rapid and extreme currency moves, Japanese Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Tetsuro Fukuyama said on Wednesday, days ahead of a G20 finance ministers' meeting.
He also said the G20 should confirm the importance of free trade. G20 finance ministers will meet in South Korea from Friday and the group's leaders will gather in Seoul next month.
"In the competition to weaken currencies, what we need to watch out for is the tendency for countries to become protectionist," Fukuyama told Reuters in an interview.
"Without falling into protectionism, we should share the view that rapid and extreme (currency) moves should be restrained. I think that the debate at the G20 should start from trying to share that common view."
Fukuyama said there was no change in Japan's position on currency intervention as stated by Prime Minister Naoto Kan, who has said Tokyo will take decisive moves if needed.
Fukuyama is one of two politicians holding the post of deputy chief cabinet secretary under Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku, who is the government's de facto No. 2. (Reporting by Linda Sieg, Yuko Yoshikawa and Yoko Kubota; Editing by Joseph Radford)