Japan may intervene at any yen level to support the currency
Japan’s former top currency diplomat Mitsuhiro Furusawa said the yen is too weak and hurting the economy.
The yen had been drifting back to around 159.50 against the USD after intervention drove it as low as roughly 155 last month.
Furusawa’s comments suggest that the Bank of Japan’s rate path is the key factor in supporting the yen, and that verbal and physical intervention can only buy time.
The comments have led to a reframing of the yen story from a single intervention event to a multi-meeting BOJ tightening cycle.