U.S., Japan Confirm Coordinated Yen Intervention
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- Japan's finance ministry confirmed a coordinated yen-buying operation with the U.S. Treasury on Friday, calling it a rare joint move to address "excessive volatility and disorderly movements of the yen."
- The yen had hit 163.73 against the dollar last Thursday before strengthening to 157.57 on Friday and trading at 157.70 on Monday, after recently falling to its weakest level in roughly four decades.
- Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said Tokyo "will not hesitate to conduct further coordinated interventions in the future" and stressed Japan remains in close communication with U.S. Treasury counterparts.
- The intervention was carried out under the "Joint Statement of the Japanese and U.S. Finance Ministers" issued in September 2025, and Japan announced plans to use the Federal Reserve's FIMA repo facility for short-term dollar access going forward.
- Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed the action countered "disorderly yen movements" and explicitly endorsed Japan's "decisive market and monetary steps to correct the substantial undervaluation of the yen."
- President Trump framed the U.S. participation as a gesture of friendship, telling reporters aboard Air Force One that "we're always there for Japan" and citing the "good relationship" between the two allies.
Why it matters: With the yen having hit a 40-year low before the intervention, both governments have now activated a standing framework — the September 2025 joint statement and FIMA repo facility — that formalizes a repeat-action mechanism and puts the U.S. Treasury on record that it views the yen as "substantially undervalued," raising the cost of further one-way bets against the currency.
