Japan Monitoring Dollar-Yen Moves with Vigilance: MOF Suzuki

Tokyo, Oct. 21 (Jiji Press)--Japan is watching foreign exchange market moves with vigilance, Minister of Finance Shunichi Suzuki said Friday, with the dollar staying above 150 yen in Tokyo.

"We are closely monitoring the moves on the foreign exchange market with a high sense of tension," Suzuki told a press conference. "We'll take appropriate measures against excessive fluctuations."

After hitting a 32-year high of 150.29 yen in New York trading Thursday, the dollar remained at similar levels for much of Friday morning trading in Tokyo.

On a continued rise in the country's consumer price index, Suzuki said that an envisioned economic package, to be compiled by the end of this month, will include measures to protect people's lives and businesses from soaring food and energy prices.

"Fiscal confidence is of the utmost importance," Suzuki stressed, discussing British Prime Minister Liz Truss's announcement of resignation following market turmoil triggered by her economic policies.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]