TOKYO (AP) -- A U.S. Treasury official said Monday the global credit crunch is gradually calming following efforts by the Federal Reserve and other central banks.

Clay Lowery, assistant secretary for international affairs at the U.S. Treasury, said the Fed and other central banks have coordinated their actions to protect the financial system from possible disruptions after the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis surfaced last year.

As a result, the availability of credit has improved "modestly," Lowery told the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan.

"Already, we have seen some indication that this combination of actions is beginning to have the desired effect," he said.

Lowery also urged Japan to do more to prove its openness to foreign investment. Japan still lags behind other industrialized nations in encouraging investment from overseas, he said.

"It is therefore important that Japan sends a clear message that it is open to foreign investment," he said.

The Japanese government recently rejected a request from British hedge fund The Children's Investment Fund to boost its stake in a major utility, Electric Power Development Co., or J-Power.

Copyright 2005-2006 THE MAINICHI NEWSPAPERS. All rights reserved. Mainichi features the best news in Japan, current news in Japan, Japan news in English, Japan business news, Tokyo Japan news, and Japan entertainment news. Mainichi News is syndicated in accordance with editorial regulations: personal and noncommercial purposes.

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