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Finance minister Satsuki Katayama reportedly to confirm move Monday, first such effort since 2011<\/p>\n
Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama will\u00a0announce\u00a0on Monday that Tokyo and Washington took\u00a0joint\u00a0action\u00a0in the currency market to arrest the\u00a0yen’s slide to 40-year lows, two\u00a0Japanese government officials told Reuters<\/em>.<\/p>\n Katayama is likely to stress the two countries’ determination to combat what they consider excessive\u00a0yen\u00a0declines, said the\u00a0sources\u00a0familiar with the matter, on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.<\/p>\n One source, asked if Katayama would\u00a0announce\u00a0“joint\u00a0action”, said yes, adding, “The operation is still ongoing.”<\/p>\n The Ministry of Finance could not immediately be reached for comment on Sunday. United States\u00a0Treasury Department officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n First joint yen intervention in 15 years<\/strong><\/p>\n The expected\u00a0announcement follows what market\u00a0sources\u00a0say\u00a0were rounds of\u00a0yen-buying in the market by the\u00a0Japanese and US\u00a0authorities, the first\u00a0joint\u00a0intervention since 2011, seeking to boost the\u00a0Japanese currency from its lowest levels against the dollar since 1986<\/a>.<\/p>\n The\u00a0Japanese government bought yen for dollars in New York trading hours on Thursday, a market source told Reuters<\/em>, with Bank of Japan data suggesting it sold as much as $58.97 billion to support the\u00a0yen.<\/p>\n Tokyo’s initial intervention came hours before the BOJ decided on Friday to keep monetary policy steady while signalling a strong chance it would raise interest rates soon. A widening rate differential with the US, where the Federal Reserve has dramatically shifted to a more hawkish stance, has been a key factor in the dollar’s rise against the\u00a0yen.<\/p>\n Read:\u00a0<\/strong>US buys yen in a first over a decade<\/a><\/p>\n Shortly after BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda held a press conference on the central bank’s decision, the yen spiked in what markets suspect may have been another bout of\u00a0yen-buying intervention by\u00a0Tokyo.<\/p>\n “Going forward, as the official responsible for currency policy, I would like to respond in close coordination with monetary policy,” Katayama’s top currency diplomat, Atsushi Mimura, told reporters after the\u00a0yen’s spike on Friday, suggesting the MOF and BOJ were working hand in hand to combat the weak\u00a0yen.<\/p>\n Also on Friday, the US Treasury informed a number of banks that it might intervene in the\u00a0yen\u00a0market and that they should “stand ready for future\u00a0action”, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters<\/em>.<\/p>\n Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who said last week the\u00a0yen\u00a0“seems very undervalued to \u200bme”, had a notepad at a Friday cabinet meeting with the words “To Do”, followed by “Buy\u00a0Japanese\u00a0Yen\u00a0(JPY) $5-10 bil”, a Reuters<\/em> photo showed.<\/p>\n Concern over rising US\u00a0bond yields<\/strong><\/p>\n In another sign of bilateral coordination, the MOF made a rare post in English on X that it had “a broad range of tools to address market liquidity needs”, including access to the Fed’s repurchase facility providing temporary dollar liquidity.<\/p>\n Japan\u2019s monetary authorities have a broad range of tools available to address market liquidity needs. \u2014 \u8ca1\u52d9\u7701 (@MOF_Japan) July 31, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n The Fed facility, introduced in 2020 to steady markets during the COVID-19 pandemic, allows\u00a0Japan\u00a0to raise dollar liquidity without outright sales of US\u00a0Treasuries, potentially easing funding pressures on\u00a0Tokyo\u00a0for intervention.<\/p>\n Critics have said\u00a0Japan\u00a0could face constraints to continued\u00a0yen-buying intervention, as selling down its huge Treasury holdings to fund such\u00a0action\u00a0could trigger a selloff in US\u00a0debt and cause an unwelcome spike in US\u00a0yields.<\/p>\n Read More:\u00a0<\/strong>Debt beyond control? US borrowing exceeds GDP<\/a><\/p>\n Some analysts saw the signs of\u00a0Japan-US\u00a0cooperation as driven by\u00a0Washington’s concern over rising Treasury yields, which could worsen if\u00a0Tokyo\u00a0failed to prevent a selloff in the\u00a0yen\u00a0and\u00a0Japanese government bonds.<\/p>\n “Both the US\u00a0and\u00a0Japan\u00a0face risks of inflation turning hot and leaving their central banks behind the curve,” former BOJ official Nobuyasu Atago told Reuters<\/em>. “They see merits in cooperating.”<\/p>\n Highlighting\u00a0Japan’s concern over rising JGB yields, Economy Minister Minoru Kiuchi said on Sunday the government will step up efforts to enhance communication with markets. “It’s very important to maintain market trust in\u00a0Japan’s fiscal sustainability,” Kiuchi, known as a fan of expansionary fiscal and monetary policy, told a television talk programme.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n
These include potential access, as appropriate, to the Federal Reserve\u2019s standing Foreign and International Monetary Authorities (FIMA) Repo Facility, which can provide temporary\u2026<\/p>\n