LAWSON SAYS SOME COUNTRIES COULD CUT RATES Nigel Lawson, Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer, said some countries may need to cut interest rates with the aim of maintaining exchange rate stability. Speaking to journalists one day after the Group of Seven countries reaffirmed goals set in Paris six weeks ago, he said central banks would continue to intervene "as and when necessary." He said the G-7 countries were concerned that Japan do more to stimulate domestic demand and welcomed measures outlined by Japanese Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa yesterday. Lawson said he was still worried about the risk of a simultaneous recession in the United States, Japan and West Germany, though less so than when he gave his March 17 budget speech to the British Parliament. "If anything I'm a little bit less concerned, but there is still a risk," he said. Asked if the United States should consider increasing interest rates to support the dollar, he said, "If there is a need for changes in relative interest rates, it doesn't need to be a rise in interest rates in the United States." Lawson said there was some concern expressed in yesterday's meetings at the slow progress the United States had made in reducing its budget deficit. "We believe there will be some worthwhile progress in reducing the deficit this year. The important thing is that it continue year after year," Lawson said. The February 22 Louvre accord called for efforts to stabilize currencies at then-current exchange rates. In the six weeks that followed the Japanese yen continued to rise against the dollar despite massive central bank intervention. Asked whether this intervention was a sign of weakness in the Louvre accord, he said, "I don't think so. If there had been no intervention you would have called that a sign of weakness." Although intervention could be a cause of inflation, Lawson said, "the world does not appear to be in an inflationary mode ... but one has to be vigilant." He said yesterday's G-7 statement, which affirmed that "current levels" of exchange rates were appropriate, had been "carefully worded." "We know what we mean, and we all mean the same thing," he said. Lawson said financial markets seem to believe that Japanese measures outlined in the Louvre accord were the source of weakness for that agreement. Therefore, the G-7 countries welcomed Miyazawa's presentation of plans for a supplemental budget to stimulate domestic demand. They particularly welcomed the goal of an immediate increase in public works spending, but Lawson said the package also involved a second stage to increase expenditures during the second half of this year.