The yen fell back into prime intervention territory Wednesday, with analysts debating whether its decline was extreme enough for Japanese authorities to prop up the currency as they did last month.
The currency fell to ¥146.39 per dollar, surpassing the level that prompted Japan’s first intervention to buy the yen since 1998. While Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki and currency chief Masato Kanda are in Washington to attend Group of 20 and other meetings, the government’s chief spokesperson, Hirokazu Matsuno, was asked about the yen Wednesday in a regular news conference.
"We’ll continue to monitor moves in the foreign exchange market with a high sense of urgency,” said Matsuno, repeating recent remarks from senior officials on the yen. "We’ll take appropriate responses against excessive moves.”