May 3 (Bloomberg) -- Japanese Finance Minister Fukushiro Nukaga said rising oil and raw-materials costs pose a challenge for Asian policy makers as they try to maintain economic growth while holding inflation in check.

``There are some nations that are concerned about inflation, while oil prices and raw-materials costs are rising globally,'' he told reporters in Madrid today during a meeting of the Asian Development Bank. ``Each nation may face difficulty in dealing with inflation while maintaining economic growth at the same time.''

Finance ministers from the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian nations, plus Japan, South Korea and China, will meet separately tomorrow on the sidelines of the ADB's annual meeting. They are likely to discuss the outlook for the region's economies, the pooling of foreign-exchange reserves and the development of bond markets.

Nukaga said he would like to ``frankly'' exchange views on Asian economies and how they can overcome any fallout from the subprime mortgage crisis in the U.S.

``Asian economies still maintain momentum compared with the U.S. economy,'' he said. ``It is important to maintain growth in Asian economies while minimizing any impact'' from a slowdown in the U.S.

To contact the reporters on this story: Keiko Ujikane in Tokyo at kujikane@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: May 3, 2008 16:15 EDT