Japan says ready to intervene in foreign exchange markets 24 hours a day if necessary

The yen edged lower to a key level against the dollar on Monday, even as Japan’s top foreign exchange official warned that authorities were prepared to intervene in foreign exchange markets around the clock if necessary.

“If there are excessive currency fluctuations, it has a negative impact on the national economy,” said Deputy Finance Minister Masato Kanda. “In the event of excessive movements based on speculation, we are ready to take appropriate action.”

Kanda was speaking as the yen traded ever closer to 160 to the dollar and the low point of 160.17 was set for April 29, the date Japan is last believed to have entered on the market. The yen slipped 0.1% to 159.91 at 9:01 a.m. in Tokyo.

Japan admitted to spending 9.8 trillion yen intervening in foreign exchange markets during a one-month period between April 26 and May 29. Officials have not specified dates for the action, but business trends indicate there were two major rounds of action on April 29. and May 1st. Data on foreign exchange reserves indicates that Japan likely sold Treasury bonds to help finance this action.

Global authorities are in contact daily on a wide range of issues, including currencies, Kanda said.

Kanda said his counterparts in Washington had no problem with Japan’s intervention. “The most important thing for them is transparency,” he said.

The United States’ decision to add Japan to its monetary watch list had no impact on Japan’s monetary strategy, according to Kanda.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modification to the text.