Japan’s Kanda: Recent Japanese Yen moves are somewhat rapid

Japan’s top currency diplomat, Masato Kanda, who will instruct the BoJ to intervene, when he judges it necessary, said on Friday that the recent move of the Japanese Yen (JPY) is somewhat rapid and he will take appropriate measures on foreign exchange (FX) if needed.

At the time of writing, USD/JPY was trading at 158.87, gaining 0.02% on the day.


Key Quotes

Recent yen moves are somewhat rapid.

Will take appropriate action on forex if needed.

Did not comment whether intervened FX market.

Can’t think if government officials commented on forex intervention

Yen moved 5% in the past month, which is significant.

It is natural to think recent forex moves were driven by speculators.

Weak Yen pushes up import costs, which would hurt people’s lives.

Undesirable if excessive forex moves triggered by speculators hurt people’s lives.

The JPY is one of the world’s most traded currencies. Its value is broadly determined by the performance of the Japanese economy, but more specifically by the Bank of Japan’s policy, the differential between Japanese and US bond yields, or risk sentiment among traders, among other factors.