The Japanese yen was steady around 157.5 per dollar on Tuesday, consolidating recent gains as renewed verbal intervention from Tokyo underpinned the currency. On Monday, Japan’s top currency official, Atsushi Mimura, said the prime minister and finance minister, together with US counterparts, had delivered a “very clear” message on concerns over foreign exchange depreciation.
Last week, Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama noted that President Donald Trump had raised the issue of yen weakness in a meeting with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. Katayama also held a phone call with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Friday evening, during which both sides reiterated the view that the yen is undervalued and agreed to deepen Japan–US cooperation on currency matters.
On the monetary policy front, a former Bank of Japan official said Monday that the central bank could raise its benchmark interest rate for a second consecutive month in October, citing persistent upside risks to inflation.
