Concerns about yen depreciation at Japan-U.S. summit meeting: Finance Minister Katayama

Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama announced at a press conference after the Cabinet meeting on the 25th that during the Japan-US summit meeting held in the US this week, ``US President Trump expressed concern about the depreciation of the yen.'' In response, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi reportedly said, speaking generally, ``undervaluation of the yen is a problem.''

In an effort to correct the yen's depreciation, the Japanese and U.S. monetary authorities conducted a coordinated intervention to buy the yen at the end of July for the first time in about 28 years. Both finance ministers have expressed their willingness to intervene further. Mr. Katayama explained that this was confirmed at the summit meeting, and emphasized that he would continue to communicate closely with U.S. Treasury Secretary George Bessent on a variety of issues, including foreign exchange.

In the foreign exchange market, although the Bank of Japan decided to raise interest rates on the 18th, the yen rapidly depreciated from the 156 yen level to the dollar. On the night of the same day, the Bank of Japan carried out a ``rate check'' to inquire of financial institutions about the market level in preparation for foreign exchange intervention, but the flow of yen selling did not stop, and the yen price briefly fell to the 159 yen level in the early hours of the 25th. In the market, there is a view that the government has put a stop to the yen-selling movement by showing that the leaders shared the need to correct the yen's depreciation.