Japan's Finance Minister vows new intervention as Yen further falls
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The Yen declines past the level that prompted recent intervention.
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FILE PHOTO: A Japan Yen note is seen in this illustration photo taken June 1, 2017. REUTERS/Thomas White/Illustration.
The finance minister of Japan, Shunichi Suzuki, stated on Friday that Tokyo is closely observing market events and is prepared to take the necessary actions in light of the national currency's continued decline and speculative volatility.
Despite the finance ministry's monetary intervention on September 22, when the exchange rate touched 145.9 yen per dollar, the Japanese yen plunged to 147.66 per US dollar on Thursday.
"We are closely watching market developments with a sense of heightened vigilance. We will take appropriate steps against excessive volatility," Suzuki told a press conference after the G20 finance ministers’ meeting in Washington. The minister also said that "excessive" fluctuations, led by speculators, would not be tolerated.
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In response to a persistent decline in the value of the national currency, the Japanese Finance Ministry lasts month carried out the first currency intervention since June 1998 by buying the yen and selling the US dollar.
The policy provided a brief exchange rate of 140 JPY for every US dollar. However, a few days later, the exchange rate once more fell to between 144 and 145 yen for every US dollar.
The decision came after the US Federal Reserve boosted benchmark interest rates by three-quarters of a percentage point on September 22, which caused the US dollar to gain ground versus other global currencies, notably the yen. Since the COVID-19 pandemic's onset, the US interest rate has increased five times.
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