CONCERTED EFFORT:
Japan’s finance minister is expected to announce the details today about the US-Japan effort to stabilize the value of the gut-shot yen
Japanese Minister of Finance Satsuki Katayama could announce as early as today that Tokyo and Washington are coordinating in the foreign exchange market to curb the yen’s weakness, a person familiar with the situation said.The content of the announcement is still being finalized but could happen as early as this morning, the person said, declining to be identified as the information is not released yet. Reuters reported Katayama would confirm the joint action and vouch for the two sides’ commitment to battle what he called excessive declines in the yen.Japanese authorities bought yen and sold US dollars during New York trading on Friday, Bloomberg reported earlier, citing one person with knowledge of the matter. At the close of New York trading on Friday, the yen was quoted at ￥157.40 to the US dollar, the strongest since early May. Just two days earlier, it was floating around the weakest levels since 1986.
A US$100 bill and Japanese yen banknotes and coins are seen arranged in Kyoto, Japan, on July 14.
The sharp gains were fueled by a combination of direct purchases of the yen, calls by officials to banks that trade the currency and appeals from US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent and Katayama. Bessent signaled commitment to shoring up the yen when Reuters published a photograph of a notepad in front of him at a cabinet meeting in Camp David on Friday. Under a “To Do” title, it was written “Buy Japanese Yen (JPY) $5-10 bil.”The operation on joint action is “still ongoing,” Reuters said, citing an unidentified government official.
