Japan is ready to intervene in the currency market at any time should the yen weaken beyond its current range, given the extent of heightened warnings from key officials, according to the nation’s former currency chief.
"The government can step in as soon as the yen falls beyond the current range,” former Vice Finance Minister for International Affairs Tatsuo Yamasaki said in an interview Tuesday. "Officials wouldn’t have issued such strong warnings unless they were prepared.”
Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki issued his strongest verbal warning of possible "bold action” last week when the yen slid to ¥151.97 to the dollar, its lowest level in 34 years. Since then, Japan’s currency has largely traded between ¥151.20 and ¥151.80. Some traders have interpreted the salvo of warnings by officials as an attempt to draw a line in the sand at ¥152.