Japan spends $62.3B to intervene in markets against weaker yen in April-May

Concerns over import costs rise due to yen’s weakness, interest rate gap between US, Japan

By Emir Yildirim

ISTANBUL (AA) – Japan spent a record 9.79 trillion yen ($62.3 billion) to intervene in the markets against a weakening yen, aiming to combat the currency's rapid decline against the US dollar in April and May, local news reported on Friday.

This intervention surpassed the 9.2 trillion yen spent in late 2022, following the yen's sharp drop from 160 to 154 against the US dollar in late April and early May, according to Kyodo News.

The yen fell again from 157 to 153 per dollar following the Fed’s policy decision on May 1.

Currently, the yen remains weak, trading at 157 per dollar on Friday.

Concerns over rising import costs have increased due to the yen's weakness. Additionally, a significant interest rate gap between the US and Japan exacerbates the issue, despite the Bank of Japan (BoJ) issuing its first interest rate hike in 17 years in March.

Kaynak:

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