Japan’s Mimura yen verbal intervention again – says closely watching FX.
Earlier:
While Mimura’s comments are nothing out of the ordinary, he’s said such things countless times in the past, the bouts of intervention from the BoJ than began late last week have added wiight to his sords this time. USD/JPY is dropping.
Masato Mimura reiterated his close watch on foreign exchange markets on Thursday, delivering another round of verbal intervention that, while familiar in tone, carries more weight than usual given the suspected bouts of yen-buying that began late last week.
Mimura declined to comment on specific currency levels but pushed back on any suggestion that Japan’s IMF classification as a free-floating exchange rate regime places limits on how frequently authorities can intervene in the market. He also confirmed that U.S. authorities are aware of his thinking, a signal that carries particular resonance ahead of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s visit to Tokyo next week, where yen weakness is expected to feature prominently in bilateral discussions with the prime minister, finance minister and Bank of Japan governor.
Mimura has made similar remarks on countless occasions, and in isolation they would register as routine. But the context has shifted. Suspected yen-buying operations estimated at JPY5-6 trillion pushed dollar-yen sharply lower from near 160 to below 157 in recent sessions, and that physical intervention has given his words a harder edge than they typically carry. Dollar-yen was falling further on Thursday following his comments.
The line on U.S. awareness is notable. With Bessent due in Tokyo, any perception of coordinated or at least mutually acknowledged pressure on yen levels could amplify the impact of both verbal and physical intervention beyond what Japan can achieve acting alone.
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Atsushi Mimura is Japan’s vice finance minister for international affairs, AKA ‘top currency diplomat’.
Japan’s finance ministry is the relevant authority in Japan for ordering intervention in the JPY. Mimura directs Bank of Japan intervention timing. he’s been a busy chap 😉
This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at investinglive.com.
