Japan finance minister: Speculative moves seen behind rapid yen weakening

TOKYO :Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki warned on Friday against "speculative moves" seen behind a rapid yen weakening, using the strongest wording to the day as the yen weakened to fresh 24-year lows beyond 139 yen to the dollar.

"I'm concerned about recent sharp yen weakening," Suzuki told reporters. Earlier he attended the first day of the Group of 20 financial leaders' two-day gatherings at the resort island of Bali in Indonesia.

"We will take appropriate response if necessary while striving to closely communicating with currency authorities from other countries," Suzuki said, signaling his readiness to intervene to stem the yen weakness.

However, Japan is unlikely to gain support from the United States for any joint action to weaken the dollar as the Federal Reserve is scrambling to raise interest rates to defeat surging inflation.

The Bank of Japan on the other hand is expected to continue powerful monetary easing to back a fragile economy, causing interest rate differentials to weaken the yen.

Suzuki said he told G20 that Japan was closely watching sudden currency moves with a high sense of urgency and that the government would liaise with the central bank.