Sept. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa said the nation’s banking system is healthy.

He also said in a speech in Tokyo today that the yen is strengthening because it’s considered a relatively safe currency.

To contact the reporter on this story: Toru Fujioka in Tokyo at tfujioka1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Ken McCallum at kmccallum4@bloomberg.net