Japan, U.S. Announce Joint Yen-Buying Intervention with U.S.

Tokyo, Aug. 3 (Jiji Press)–Japanese and U.S. finance chiefs have said the two countries conducted a concerted yen-buying currency market intervention Friday, U.S. Eastern time. Japanese Minister of Finance Satsuki Katayama said in a statement Monday that the intervention, carried out “in coordination with” the U.S. Treasury Department, was based on a joint statement issued last September by the two nations’ finance chiefs. The action “countered excessive volatility and disorderly movements in the Japanese yen in recent months,” she said. The MOF “remains attentive and in close communication with our counterparts at the U.S. Treasury,” the minister said. “We will not hesitate to conduct further joint intervention.” In a message posted on X, formerly Twitter, on Monday morning, Japan time, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent acknowledged the coordinated action and said, “We strongly support Japan’s decisive market and monetary steps to correct the substantial undervaluation of the yen.” “We will not hesitate to participate in further joint intervention,” he said, indicating that U.S. authorities will work closely with the Japanese government and the Bank of Japan to tackle the yen’s depreciation against the dollar. The latest action marked the first coordinated foreign exchange market intervention by Japanese and U.S. authorities since shortly after a massive earthquake and tsunami struck northeastern Japan in March 2011. The last concerted yen-buying operation was conducted in 1998, during the Asian financial crisis. Katayama also said in the statement that Japan plans to utilize in the future the U.S. Federal Reserve’s Foreign and International Monetary Authorities Repo Facility, which provides temporary dollar liquidity to foreign authorities. This will allow Japan to secure sufficient dollar funds for yen-buying interventions without having to sell its holdings of U.S. Treasury bonds. “We will take resolute action against disorderly movements (in foreign exchange rates),” Katayama told reporters. “We are always ready.” Atsushi Mimura, Japan’s vice minister of finance for international affairs, said Monday that the concerted action is “a paragon of the Japan-U.S. currency alliance.” The September 2025 statement, issued by Bessent and then Japanese Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato, showed tolerance of foreign exchange market intervention as a tool to combat excess volatility and disorderly movements in exchange rates. The latest coordinated intervention, carried out intermittently, came after Japan stepped in the market to buy yen and U.S. authorities conducted a rate check with financial institutions, seen as a precursor to intervention, on Thursday. The dollar tumbled from above 162.50 yen to below 158 yen following Thursday’s intervention before rebounding above 160 yen. Friday’s concerted intervention pushed down the U.S. currency again. In Tokyo foreign exchange trading Monday morning, the dollar briefly tumbled below 156 yen for the first time in about three months. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]