Japan Spends Nearly $20 Bil. In Currency Market Intervention
The Japanese government and the Bank of Japan spent a record amount intervening in the currency market this month to stop the rapid fall of the Japanese currency.
The Finance Ministry said on Friday that 2.8382 trillion yen, or nearly 20 billion dollars, was used to buy the yen and sell the dollar. The figure exceeded the previous record set in April 1998.
The market intervention took place over a one-month period through Wednesday.
The government and the central bank disclosed on September 22 that they had stepped into the market for the first time in 24 years.
Immediately after the market intervention, the yen rose by more than 5 yen to the lower 140 level against the dollar. But the Japanese currency weakened since then to around 144 yen.
The US Federal Reserve continues to raise key interest rates to tame inflation. In contrast, the Bank of Japan plans to maintain its massive easy-money policy, prompting investors to sell the yen.
Financial market players are closely watching whether the Japanese authorities will launch another market intervention if the yen's depreciation further accelerates.