When Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda said in Tokyo last week the yen has weakened enough, his key audience was 11,000 km away in Washington.
The currency has rebounded about 2 percent from a 13-year low as Kuroda said on June 10 that the currency is "very" weak. The gains did not come soon enough to stop fellow Democrats blocking President Barack Obama's efforts to fast-track a trade deal between 12 nations across the Pacific Ocean two days later.
"When the yen is weakening rapidly trade talks don't go smoothly," said Toru Yamamoto, the chief strategist at Daiwa Securities Co., one of the primary dealers obliged to bid at government auctions. Kuroda opted for verbal intervention because the pact "is one of the pillars of Japan's growth strategy so it's very important for restoring fiscal health."