Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda told the government with a greater sense of urgency Monday to take decisive action if needed in the foreign-exchange markets to rein in the yen's soaring ascent against the embattled dollar.
"I have become more concerned about the worsening of the yen's one-sided movements," Noda told reporters in Tokyo. "I will take bold actions if necessary and won't rule out any possible options."
Prime Minister Naoto Kan and other Cabinet members echoed his view, saying the government is paying closer attention to whether speculative investors have been chasing short-term profits by excessively betting on a stronger yen while barely taking Japan's economic fundamentals into account.