TOKYO: Japan’s top currency diplomat Atsushi Mimura said on Thursday that he remained on alert over currency market developments, warning that he was not yet comfortable with recent moves in the yen.
The yen extended gains after a sudden burst higher on Wednesday, though traders pointed to rising bets on Bank of Japan rate hikes rather than attribute the move to intervention by the Japanese authorities.
Mimura, Japan’s vice finance minister for international affairs, declined to comment on specific currency levels or market movements, but said he was “neither satisfied nor reassured” by recent developments.
“We remain on a state of heightened alert,” Mimura told reporters after he returned from the G20 finance leaders’ gathering in Asheville, North Carolina.
When asked whether authorities had conducted a rate check, Mimura said: “I will not comment on that.” Mimura also said the Japanese Finance Minister and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had very productive discussions, whether on market developments or cooperation within the G20 framework, in response to a question about Bessent’s recent comments on Japan’s monetary policy.
July household spending falls
Japanese household spending fell in July at the fastest annual pace in 2-1/2 years, government data showed on Friday, highlighting lacklustre private consumption ahead of a closely watched Bank of Japan meeting.
Consumer spending fell 3.6percent year-on-year, data from the internal affairs ministry showed, worse than a median forecast for a 1.6percent drop and marking an eighth consecutive month of decline. Spending fell at the steepest pace since January 2024, when it dropped by 6.3 percent.
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