Japan PM to keep finance minister Katayama in cabinet reshuffle, sources say

TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is set to retain Satsuki Katayama as finance minister in a cabinet reshuffle likely later this month, four government people familiar with the matter said.

The retention indicates preference for continuity in financial policy as the government navigates talks with the US on foreign exchange and prepares to push through a flagship consumption tax cut on food.

A former finance ministry bureaucrat, Katayama has played a key role negotiating with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on a rare joint US-Japan yen intervention in late July, an operation that underscored the countries’ close cooperation.

“Takaichi values Katayama’s role in helping carry out the coordinated intervention and her close relationship with Bessent,” said one of the government people, who all declined to be identified as the matter was not public.

“Removing Katayama now could be interpreted by markets in the wrong way, at a time when Bessent has stepped up pressure on Japan,” the person said.

Katayama last month said she and Bessent have held roughly 10 discussions, including online meetings, highlighting their closeness.

Economists have said replacing Katayama could unsettle markets if a successor were perceived as less concerned about risk from a weaker yen or rising government bond yields.