Japan's GPIF supporting global market liquidity, Mimura says

BANGKOK, Oct 14 (Reuters) - ‌Japan's top ​currency ​diplomat Atsushi Mimura said on Wednesday the investment activities of the country's ‌Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) are supporting the "function ⁠and liquidity" of global financial markets.

Japan had responded ‌quite early to the ‌challenges of a rapidly ageing population through measures such as introducing universal pensions and ​healthcare systems in 1961, Mimura said in a panel on demographics and ageing population held ⁠during the IMF meetings in Bangkok.

Such steps created positive side ​effects, such as a "very healthy" workforce and a dramatic accumulation of pension funds, ​he said, with the ‌GPIF now the world's biggest institutional investor.

"In this way, the proactive and ⁠early introduction of policies not only supported us in responding, or better responding, to population ageing, ⁠but also gave us a lot of positive by-products," ​said Mimura, who is Japan's vice finance minister for international affairs.

GPIF reported a record quarterly investment gain ‌in the April-June quarter, heightening attention on whether the world's largest pension ‌fund should rethink its investment strategy. Any ⁠shift in its portfolio ‌strategy would ​reverberate across global financial markets, analysts say.

(Reporting by Leika Kihara; Editing by John ‌Mair)

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