LONDON, March 13 (Reuters) - World leaders should focus on giving an immediate boost to the global economy rather than longer-term efforts to improve financial regulation, Japan's Finance Finister Kaoru Yosano told the Financial Times.
"The immediate issues are to stabilise the financial system (and) to get out of the present deflation threat facing the world economy," he told Friday's edition of the paper. "These two are the most important things."
Yosano, who is is attending a meeting of G20 finance ministers in London this weekend, said toughening up bank sector regulation was a less pressing issue.
"Although we are ready to discuss capital adequacy ratio regulations, we have to decide which problem has the priority," he said.
"What we ask at this moment is to save the life of the world economy. Not to comment about its beard."
The run-up to the G20 meeting has been dominated by lively transatlantic debate about what the summit's priorities should be and the degree to which countries should commit to aggressive stimulus action.
The United States has called for the biggest industrialised countries to spend 2 percent of their gross domestic product to stimulate the global economy. Many European leaders, by contrast, have been reluctant to back fresh stimulus plans.
Japan has already offered to lend $100 billion to the International Monetary Fund and Yosano hinted Tokyo could do more.
"Japan is ready to offer whatever we can do for other nations and international organisations," he said. "We are ready to contribute in any way which would improve the world's economic situation. Ask us." (Reporting by Christina Fincher, editing by Liz Piper, Gary Hill)