Currency market intervention by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on behalf of Japanese monetary authorities is "not unusual," a senior U.S. Treasury Department official said Wednesday.

"The use of the New York Fed is not unusual," Treasury Undersecretary for International Affairs John Taylor told reporters after congressional testimony.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York stepped into the market Tuesday to buy dollars on behalf of the Bank of Japan, the first time in 15 months Japanese monetary authorities have asked a foreign central bank to intervene in the currency market.

In the New York market Tuesday, the dollar temporarily dropped to a new 33-month low of 110.07 yen. Japan is worried that a strong yen will hurt exports and the fledging economic recovery.