Japan's government and central bank said on Friday they were concerned by recent sharp falls in the yen in a rare joint statement, the strongest warning to date that Tokyo could intervene to support the currency which has sunk to 20-year lows.

After a meeting with his Bank of Japan counterpart, the country's top currency diplomat Masato Kanda told reporters that Tokyo will "respond flexibly with all options on the table."

He declined to say whether Tokyo could negotiate with other countries to jointly step into the market.