The Group of Seven finance chiefs said authorities from the United States, Britain, Canada and the European Central Bank will join with Japan in joint foreign exchange intervention from Friday, at the request of the Japanese authorities.

The G7 finance leaders expressed their readiness to provide any needed cooperation and our confidence in the resilience of the Japanese economy and financial sector, they said in a statement issued after a conference call.

The G7 finance chiefs held a teleconference around 7 a.m. Japan time on Friday (10:00 p.m. GMT on Thursday) to discuss the financial and economic impact of last week's massive earthquake and unfolding nuclear crisis.

(Reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto, Rie Ishiguro and Kaori Kaneko; Editing by Michael Watson)