The Japanese yen, paired with the US dollar, continues declining. The current USDJPY exchange rate stands at 148.77.
So, the yen has reached a new seven-week low. The decrease was provoked by verbal interventions by a high-ranking Japanese official.
Shunichi Suzuki, the Japanese Minister of finance, has announced today that the authorities keep a close eye on the currency market and consider the stability of the exchange rate to be important. Suzuki claims that market movements must represent the economic base. The market hears the words but sees no action – the yen remains extremely weak while the Bank of Japan provides no confirmations of its readiness to change the structure of its monetary policy.
In January, the yen caught a devaluation wave, losing 5% of the cost already.
Not only the slowness of the BoJ is important but also the consequences of the earthquake that happened in central Japan on 1 January.