Japan says ready to act as yen hits 40-year low
Electronic boards display the foreign exchange rate of the Japanese yen against the US dollar at a foreign exchange brokerage in Tokyo on Jun 30, 2026. (Photo: AFP/Kazuhiro Nogi)
Read a summary of this article on FAST.
Get bite-sized news via a new
cards interface. Give it a try.
Click here to return to FAST
Tap here to return to FAST
FAST
TOKYO: Japan’s finance minister said on Tuesday (Jun 30) that authorities were ready to take “appropriate action” after the yen hit a 40-year low against the dollar.
The currency has been sliding for years and has come under renewed pressure because of the Middle East war and the gap in US and Japanese interest rates.
Satsuki Katayama said Japan “will take appropriate action at any time as necessary”, local media reported.
The comment was intended to signal to markets that Japan was prepared to intervene to support the currency after spending more than US$70 billion doing so last month.
Guess Word
Crack the word, one row at a time
Buzzword
Create words using the given letters
Mini Sudoku
Tiny puzzle, mighty brain teaser
Mini Crossword
Small grid, big challenge
Word Search
Spot as many words as you can
The yen sank past 161.96 per dollar in London trade on Monday for the first time since 1986.
It hit 62.40 in Asian trade on Tuesday before recovering to 162.17.
A weak yen makes imports more expensive for resource-poor Japan, notably for dollar-traded oil.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s government has been shielding consumers with heavy fuel and energy subsidies.
But the weak yen has also helped fuel a boom in tourism, since it makes shopping, accommodation and food cheaper for foreign tourists.
The Bank of Japan this month raised interest rates to a 31-year high but there are expectations that the US Federal Reserve could lift borrowing costs itself this year, meaning that the gap will remain.
Further hikes by the BoJ could also meet resistance from Takaichi’s government, which is anxious not to snuff out growth with high borrowing costs.
Source: AFP/dy
Sign up for our newsletters
Get the CNA app
Stay updated with notifications for breaking news and our best stories
Get WhatsApp alerts
Join our channel for the top reads for the day on your preferred chat app
Get bite-sized news via a new
cards interface. Give it a try.
Click here to return to FAST
Tap here to return to FAST
FAST
About The Author
