TOKYO, Nov. 9 — Japan bought a record 7.98 trillion yen (about 50.4 billion U.S. dollars) on July 30 to prop up its currency in the foreign exchange market, marking the largest single-day yen-buying intervention on record, data released Monday by the Finance Ministry showed.
The July 30 intervention was part of a series of yen-buying, dollar-selling operations, also conducted on July 31 and Aug. 3, that totaled 15.4 trillion yen, according to the ministry’s data on foreign exchange intervention operations for the July-September quarter.
On July 31, Japan and the United States jointly intervened to support the yen in their first such coordinated move in 28 years, with Japan spending the equivalent of 5.55 trillion yen, according to the data.
The interventions were carried out after the yen slid to the upper 163 range against the U.S. dollar in late July, its weakest level in around 40 years.
Supported by the interventions and other measures, the yen temporarily jumped to the lower 155 range against the U.S. dollar on Aug. 3. On Sept. 8, it briefly firmed to the 152 range.
The currency later gave up those gains, however, weighed down by the persistent interest rate differential between Japan and the United States, and has recently been trading in the 158 range against the U.S. dollar. (Namibia Daily News/Xinhua)
