The yen is a whisker away from tumbling to its lowest rate in 20 years against the dollar in a slide that threatens to turn what some see as an opportunity for Japan into an economic and financial headache for Asia and possibly beyond.
Caught in the crossfire between the two wildly different monetary policy regimes in Tokyo and Washington, at one point Thursday, the Japanese currency was less than ¥1 away from its 2002 low of ¥135.15 per dollar. Investors have been ramping up their short bets as the Bank of Japan keeps local yields capped to boost a sputtering economy while Treasury equivalents climb on expectations interest rates will raise.
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