Authorities plan to bolster funds needed to intervene in the currency market and will lengthen monitoring of foreign exchange market positions as the yen stays near postwar highs, Finance Minister Jun Azumi said Friday.
The ministry aims to raise the issuance limit for bills to fund intervention to ¥165 trillion, an increase of ¥15 trillion, Azumi said. He also said the ministry will require financial institutions to report their market positions until the yearend, from the initial plan of until the end of September.
The expanded measures underscore policymakers' concern that a currency near post-World War II highs may damage the recovery from the March quake and tsunami. Industrial production rose 0.8 percent from the previous month, while employers cut payrolls by 160,000, according to government reports released Friday.