Japan’s finance minister says the ministry stepped into the currency market last week to buy the Japanese yen in coordination with the US Department of the Treasury.
The joint intervention is believed to be behind a sharp 5-yen jump in the Japanese currency against the dollar in New York trading last week. The move pushed the yen to its strongest in about two-and-a-half months from levels near a 40-year low.
Finance Minister Katayama Satsuki released a statement confirming the joint operation on Monday. She later told reporters the action was in accordance with the Japan-US Finance Ministers’ Joint Statement in September last year.
“Japan’s finance ministry is closely monitoring the current…