Japan likely spent largest amount ever for Sep 22 FX intervention: Estimates
Banknotes of Japanese yen are seen in this illustration picture taken on Sep 23, 2022. (File photo: Reuters/Florence Lo)
TOKYO: Japan is estimated to have spent a record 3.6 trillion yen (US$25 billion) last Thursday (Sep 22) in its first dollar-selling, yen-buying intervention in 24 years to stem the currency's sharp weakening, according to estimates by Tokyo money market brokerage firms.
The final figure for the size of the Sep 22 intervention will be available on Friday, when the Ministry of Finance announces the total amount it spent for intervention from Aug 30 to Sep 28.
The largest dollar-selling, yen-buying intervention on record for one day was 2.62 trillion yen in 1998, during the last spell of intervention conducted amid the 1997/98 Asian financial crisis.
The estimates were made by two money market broker firms.
Japanese authorities have kept silent on the size of its currency intervention, which came hours after the Bank of Japan stuck to its monetary stimulus, sending the Japanese currency to its 24-year low beyond 145 yen to the dollar.
