Japan in new move to control yen
Japan said it will boost its currency intervention fund and keep watching dealers’ trading positions in yet another effort to tame the yen in the face of growing evidence that its strength is stalling the economy’s post-quake rebound.
August industrial output and other data showed Japan’s swift recovery from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami was tailing off under the weight of the yen’s strength and faltering global growth.
Finance Minister Jun Azumi said the government would authorise a further 15 trillion yen ($195 billion) for market interventions, effectively increasing the amount available to a record 46 trillion yen.
He also said the government will maintain for two more months monitoring of currency traders’ daily positions put in place last month to discourage speculative bets on the yen’s rise.
The yen has held broadly steady against the dollar at around 76-77 yen since Tokyo bought a record 4.5 trillion yen worth of currencies on August 4, but the currency continued to rise against the euro and currencies of its Asian rivals.