Tokyo, Sept. 25 (Jiji Press)–Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said Friday she and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reaffirmed at their online meeting the same day that “the undervaluation of the yen is a problem.” Katayama revealed this in talks with reporters after the virtual meeting. “We exchanged views on financial market developments,” she also said. “We also reconfirmed that the two countries will further strengthen cooperation,” Katayama added. In late July, Japanese and U.S. authorities conducted their first concerted yen-buying currency market intervention in about 28 years to correct the weakness of the Japanese currency. In a statement released later, Katayama and Bessent did not rule out the possibility of the two countries conducting further coordinated intervention. In Friday’s online meeting, Katayama and Bessent are also believed to have discussed recent developments in the bond market, at a time when long-term-interest rates in both Japan and the United States are rising sharply. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
