Japan’s foreign currency reserves dropped by $14 billion in April, a fall that reflects a decline in the value of foreign securities holdings rather than intervention in the market.
The country’s forex reserves decreased to $1.14 trillion in April, largely on the back of drop in the holdings of foreign securities to $978 billion from $995 billion the previous month, according to a Finance Ministry report Thursday. The securities holdings had been expected to fall due to a decline in the market value of overseas assets including Treasuries as yields rose.
The data comes with evidence already pointing to two recent interventions in the currency market by Japan to prop up the yen. The first move came at the very end of April after the currency hit ¥160 against the dollar for the first time since 1990. The suspected intervention was likely not settled in the reserves data until the beginning of May.