TOKYO (Reuters) -Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said on Tuesday he was more concerned about the negative aspects of the yen’s current weakness at the moment, reiterating Japan’s warnings against excessive currency movements.
“The weak yen boosts exporters’ profits, but also increases burdens on businesses and consumers as it pushes up import prices,” Suzuki told a parliamentary committee.
“As our policy goal has been to achieve wage increases that exceed price increases, we are more concerned at this time about the negative impact of yen weakness,” he said.
Suzuki also reiterated that Japanese authorities would continue to monitor the currency’s impact on the economy and households and respond appropriately.
The yen has fallen near the level of 157 per dollar and was last at 156.80 per dollar in early trading in Asia on Tuesday.
Over the weekend, the financial leaders of the advanced countries of the Group of Seven (G7) reaffirmed their commitment to warn against excessively volatile currency movements, language that Japan sees as a green light to intervene in the market to prevent rapid declines of the yen.
