LONDON: Britain confirmed Friday that it was taking part in joint intervention with Japan to stabilise foreign exchange markets after the G7 rich nations pledged overnight to weaken the yen.
British finance minister George Osborne, whose official title is chancellor of the exchequer, agreed earlier with his G7 counterparts on coordinated action to stem the yen's rise and support the crisis-hit Japanese economy.
"The Chancellor of the Exchequer and fellow G7 finance ministers and central bank governors agreed to the request of the Japanese authorities for concerted intervention in exchange markets on 18 March 2011," a Treasury spokesman said Friday.
"The Treasury can this morning confirm that, at its instruction, the Bank of England intervened in the foreign currency market to give effect to the G7 finance ministers' communique."
The G7 rich nations, seeking to ease Japan's plight, said in a statement earlier that they had agreed to "cooperate as appropriate" to address excessive and volatile movements in the foreign exchange market.
The European Central Bank and German central bank confirmed their participation in the plan.
In reaction to the G7 statement, the dollar rose as high as 81.99 yen at about 0800 GMT, before pulling back to 81.34 yen in afternoon London trade.
Earlier this week, the yen had soared to a post World War Two dollar-high at 76.36 as Japanese crews battled to avert a nuclear meltdown after the Fukushima plant was rocked by last week's deadly earthquake and tsunami.
Analysts said the yen was soaring as Japan would need to repatriate funds from abroad to help pay for reconstruction.
A strong yen hurts the nation's exporters at a time when they are already reeling from the impact of the natural disaster and subsequent nuclear crisis.
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