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Japan's top currency diplomat issued a warning on Monday against speculative trading as the yen fell below 149 per dollar. Atsushi Mimura, the country's senior currency official, emphasized the need to monitor foreign exchange market activity with urgency, following the verbal warnings often used by his predecessor, Masato Kanda.
Mimura did not comment on the specifics of the current market situation.
Government Response to Rapid Currency Movements
Newly appointed Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato also stressed the government's commitment to keeping a close eye on rapid currency movements. "The government will consider what action should be taken while monitoring the impacts," Kato stated.
The yen dropped to 149.10 against the dollar in early trading on Monday. This decline followed a strong U.S. jobs report for September, prompting traders to reduce expectations for major interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.
Impact on Japan's Monetary Policy
Japan previously conducted a yen-buying intervention in late July to support its currency when it fell to a 38-year low. The yen has been under continuous pressure, especially after Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba signaled that the economy was not ready for further interest rate hikes—contradicting his earlier support for the Bank of Japan's (BOJ) shift from its decades-long loose monetary policy.
When asked about the BOJ's policy rate, Kato declined to give a specific opinion, leaving those decisions to the central bank.
BOJ's Inflation Goals
The Bank of Japan delivered its first rate hike in 17 years in March, citing the pace of price and wage growth as evidence of Japan overcoming its deflationary mindset. An unexpected rate hike in July further shook domestic markets. "The government hopes the BOJ will communicate with markets thoroughly and take appropriate policy to achieve its 2% inflation target stably and sustainably," Kato added.
