Japanese Finance Minister Reiterates Determination to Intervene in Currency Market, Yen Approaching Key 160 Level

Japan's Finance Minister Katayama Satsuki said on Friday that the government is prepared to take decisive action at any time if excessive fluctuations in the foreign exchange market are caused by speculation.

The current exchange rate of the yen against the US dollar is hovering around 159.29 in the Tokyo market, a price that is very close to the 160 level widely considered as the red line for official intervention by the market. As the Ministry of Finance of Japan is about to release the latest foreign exchange intervention data on Friday evening, it has sparked widespread speculation in the market about actual official actions.

The Ministry of Finance plans to announce the monthly intervention report for the period from April 28 to May 27 at 7 pm on Friday. The report is expected to confirm Japan's first currency market intervention since July 2024. Although the data will only show the total amount of cumulative intervention over the past month and will not disclose specific entry dates, it will be direct evidence of the official recognition of intervention in the market.

According to informed sources, the Japanese government has already intervened when the yen exchange rate surged sharply on April 30, and may have carried out several rounds of public operations to purchase yen in the following days. Bloomberg estimates through the analysis of the Bank of Japan's current account data and currency market forecasts that the Japanese authorities may have spent up to 10 trillion yen in several actions over the past month.