Japan’s Ministry of Finance (MOF) recorded ¥15,399.3 billion in yen-buying operations from July through September as the dollar neared ¥160, underscoring the scale of Tokyo’s recent currency intervention.
The MOF’s records of summer yen purchases list three dollar-sale, yen-purchase operations: ¥7,975.6 billion on July 30, ¥5,552.3 billion on July 31 and ¥1,871.4 billion on Aug. 3. The ministry’s records show those operations totaled ¥15,399.3 billion for the July-September quarter.
Atsushi Mimura, Japan’s vice finance minister for international affairs, said Thursday, Nov. 12, that recent currency moves were “excessively rapid,” Reuters reported. The dollar reached ¥159.94 against the yen, its highest level in more than two months, the news agency said.
Jiji Press reported that Mimura also said it was “still too early to forget the memory of this summer.” The ministry’s records list three yen-buying operations during the July-September quarter.
Reuters said the dollar’s advance reflected stronger market expectations for a U.S. interest-rate increase after inflation data and hawkish comments from policymakers.
Separately, the Bank of Japan’s (BOJ) preliminary October release put its import price index 24.8% above its year-earlier level in yen terms; measured in contract currencies, the rise was 19.2%.
