Japan Official Cites Rule on Multiple Interventions Being One
As currency traders continue to watch for potential Japanese moves to buy the yen , a Finance Ministry official from the nation on Monday cited a rule saying that three days of intervention count as a single operation.
The International Monetary Fund considers three consecutive business days of exchange-market intervention as a single episode, the official told reporters. The comments came after the yen rose for three straight days following a reported on Thursday.
IMF rules state that up to three such episodes within six months is consistent with a free-floating exchange rate regime, said the official, who accompanied Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama to an international conference in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. If it exceeds three such occasions, the IMF tends to classify it as a floating — rather than free-floating — exchange-rate regime, the official said.
Even if Japan is on a public holiday , intervention can still be counted if global markets are open, the Finance Ministry person said. Based on this, May 4 would be considered the third consecutive day from April 30, the official added.
The comments came as the yen strengthened for three straight days, fueling speculation that authorities intervened in the currency market on consecutive business days, as they did in 2024.
Japan is believed to have intervened on Thursday after the yen weakened to 160.72 against the dollar. A Bloomberg analysis suggested that authorities might have spent about $34.5 billion to support the currency. Finance Ministry officials, including Katayama, have declined to confirm whether intervention took place.
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The yen was around 157.29 per dollar as of 12:13 p.m. in New York.
Japan is as a free-floating exchange rate regime under IMF criteria.
Katayama reiterated on Monday that the government stands ready to take bold action against speculative currency moves, in line with a US-Japan agreement reached last year. Such action typically refers to currency intervention to support the yen.
