FOCUS: Japan Resolved to Prop Up Yen thru Intervention

Tokyo, May 2 (Jiji Press)--Desperately hoping to stop the yen's rapid depreciation, the Japanese government and the Bank of Japan apparently implemented their first currency market intervention in about two years on Thursday afternoon.

Earlier that day, the dollar was trading above 160 yen, levels believed to be the defense line for the government and the central bank to conduct yen-buying, dollar-selling interventions.

With the dollar climbing to levels unseen since July 2024, when the Japanese authorities previously conducted an intervention, Japanese Vice Finance Minister for International Affairs Atsushi Mimura, who is in charge of intervention-related operations, issued a warning, particularly targeting speculative traders.

"This is our final advisory for (market players) to withdraw (from speculative trading)," he said.

In 2024, the government and the BOJ conducted market interventions during the Golden Week holiday period between late April and early May, when trading in Tokyo tends to be thin.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]