2024-07-16 22:01:45
The Japanese authorities probably conducted a currency intervention this week to strengthen the national currency against the dollar, leading Japanese business newspaper Nikkei reported, Day.Az reports with reference to TASS.
According to the publication, the amount of the currency intervention could have been around 3.5 trillion yen (about $22 billion at the current exchange rate). Neither the Japanese Ministry of Finance nor the Bank of Japan (the central bank) announced the intervention, and refrained from commenting on the topic. Usually, the Japanese authorities announce currency interventions several months later.
The yen strengthened against the dollar on Friday, adding 1.55% to reach 159.1-159.12 yen per dollar. Local analysts suggested that this was the result of the Japanese authorities’ currency intervention, which was the second in 2024 – the previous one was in April.
The main factor in the continuing decline of the yen is the continuing gap in interest rates with Western countries, where they were raised to combat inflation. In Japan, which has been struggling with the negative impact of deflation for decades, the authorities and the regulator are set to achieve the inflation target of 2%, for which they are stimulating the economy, including through low rates. This makes investments in dollar- and euro-denominated assets more profitable than investments in yen-denominated products.
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