Bessent Expects Japan to Take Steps to Prop Up Yen

Asheville, North Carolina, Aug. 31 (Jiji Press)–U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday that he believes the Japanese government and the Bank of Japan will take measures to prop up the yen. “It’s my belief that the Japanese government and that the BOJ will do the things that will lead to a stronger yen,” Bessent said in an interview on U.S. broadcaster CNBC. “I have information that the market doesn’t have,” he added. The treasury secretary is stepping up pressure on the Japanese central bank to raise its policy interest rate. The yen is weakening despite a concerted yen-buying market intervention by Japanese and U.S. monetary authorities in late July. “I can’t affect the natural equilibrium,” Bessent said. “What we can do is send a signal.” The U.S. Treasury Department announced in mid-August that it would raise the limit on its buyback operations for longer-dated Treasury securities, in light of rising U.S. interest rates. “My job is to make sure that the market is looking at fundamentals and that the market does not dictate policy,” Bessent said in the interview. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]