Japan ruling party chief calls for stronger yen

TOKYO, April 13 (Reuters) - Japan must strengthen the yen, such as by helping boost the country's industrial competitiveness, as the currency's weakness has pushed up households' living costs, the ruling party's policy chief said on Sunday.

Itsunori Onodera, chair of the Liberal Democratic Party's Policy Research Council, also said Japan should not intentionally sell its U.S. Treasury holdings in retaliation against tariffs levied by President Donald Trump.

"As a U.S. ally, the government shouldn't think about intentionally using U.S. Treasury holdings," Onodera said in a programme on public broadcaster NHK, rejecting an opposition lawmaker's suggestion that Tokyo use its huge holdings of U.S. government debt as a negotiating tool in bilateral trade talks.