By Satoshi Sugiyama
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese currency diplomat Masato Kanda said on Wednesday he would have to respond if speculators cause excessive moves in the currency market and that there was no limit to how often authorities could intervene, Kyodo News reported.
“I have no choice but to respond appropriately when excessive movements are caused by speculators,” the Deputy Finance Minister for International Affairs told Kyodo in an interview.
The dollar fell about 1.2% to 156.34 yen on Wednesday, with traders suspecting a new round of official buying from Tokyo after Japanese authorities likely intervened last week to pull the currency away from a 38-year low.
The Ministry of Finance was not immediately available for comment.
Bank of Japan data released a day earlier suggested that Tokyo intervened to support the yen for two consecutive days last week, on Thursday and Friday, with an estimated 6 trillion yen ($38.38 billion) issued. The government has said it would not confirm whether authorities had intervened in the market.
Kyodo also quoted Kanda as saying that while there were several factors behind currency movements, “the biggest is speculation.”
In comments that appeared to be a tacit confirmation of the authorities’ actions, he added: “We communicate very closely with the authorities of each country and comply with international agreements, so there is no criticism from other countries.”
($1 = 156.3300 yen)
