JAPAN MINISTRY ASKS TRUST BANKS TO CUT DLR SALES The Finance Ministry has asked trust banks to moderate their dollar selling, trust banking sources said. A Ministry official told Reuters earlier this week the Ministry had recently surveyed foreign exchange transactions by institutional investors, but he declined to say whether this was aimed at moderating the dollar sales. Dealers said institutional investors were reluctant to sell dollars aggressively today partly because of the Ministry monitoring. One senior trust bank source said that while sympathizing with the Ministry position, the trust banks had to conduct their foreign exchange operations according to the dictates of the market. A Bank of Japan official said the central bank approved of the survey as long it was not used too forcefully. But another official denied local press reports that the central bank itself had asked investors to moderate their dollar sales. "We are not legally authorized to do that," he said. A Bank of Japan official also said the central bank will renew its call on financial institutions to moderate excessive loans for the purpose of land and securities investment as such investments threaten to cause inflation. Bank of Japan Governor Satoshi Sumita had previously expressed concern about excessive investment in land and securities resulting partly from eased credit conditions.