Japanese authorities spent \u00a515.39 trillion in foreign exchange market interventions from July 30 to Wednesday, the Finance Ministry said Friday.<\/p>\n
The figure marked the largest-ever monthly amount spent on yen-buying, dollar-selling interventions.<\/p>\n
The government and the Bank of Japan conducted the interventions to curb the historic weakening of the yen.<\/p>\n
It marked the first series of yen-buying, dollar-selling interventions in about three months, following actions taken during Japan\u2019s Golden Week holiday period between late April and early May. Japan spent a total of \u00a511.73 trillion in the previous interventions.<\/p>\n
The cumulative amount of foreign exchange intervention operations this year has exceeded \u00a527 trillion, surpassing the previous annual record of about \u00a515 trillion set in 2024.<\/p>\n
In late July, the dollar approached \u00a5164, hitting the highest level in about 39 years and eight months. On the night of July 30, the dollar plunged by about \u00a55 to slip below \u00a5158, following the interventions by the Japanese authorities. The dollar advanced to over \u00a5160 the following day but fell below \u00a5158 again later. On Aug. 3, the greenback also dived against the yen.<\/p>\n
Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Aug. 3 that Japanese and U.S. authorities carried out a joint yen-buying, dollar-selling intervention for the first time in about 28 years on July 31.<\/p>\n
They expressed a commitment to coordinated efforts to stop the yen\u2019s depreciation, saying that Japanese and U.S. authorities will not hesitate to further coordinate interventions. The size of U.S. intervention operations has not been disclosed.<\/p>\n