Japan Plunked In $43-B In October Yen Intervention

Japan spent a record 6.35 trillion yen ($43 billion) when making what were likely multiple interventions in the currency market in October, Finance Ministry data showed Monday, Oct. 31, 2022, as the nation sought to arrest the rapid depreciation of its currency.

Photo Insert: The Finance Ministry did not disclose any daily breakdowns of the amount, spent between Sept. 29 and Thursday.

The previous high was 2.84 trillion yen set in September, thought to have been primarily spent on Sept. 22 when Japan stepped into the market by buying the yen with US dollars for the first time since 1998.

Since then, Japanese authorities have kept mum on any intervention, leaving financial markets on edge, Kyodo News reported.

The Finance Ministry did not disclose any daily breakdowns of the amount, spent between Sept. 29 and Thursday. "Stealth" interventions are designed to keep market participants guessing whether Japanese authorities are actually intervening.

After the yen neared 152 to the dollar, sources confirmed Japan intervened on Oct. 21, despite market perceptions that such operations will do little to reverse the broader trend.

Japanese monetary authorities likely stepped in again on Oct. 24 as the yen surged in just minutes relative to the dollar.

Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki had warned that necessary steps would be taken to counter excess market volatility. The main driver has been the widening gap between Japanese and US interest rates as the Bank of Japan (BOJ) has ruled out the possibility of a near-term interest rate hike while the Federal Reserve is widely expected to go ahead with another hike in its policy meeting later this week, Mainichi Japan also reported.

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