Written by Satoshi Sugiyama
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s top currency diplomat Masato Kanda said on Wednesday he would have to respond if speculators caused excessive moves in the currency market and there was no limit to the number of times authorities could intervene, Kyodo News reported.
“I have no choice but to respond appropriately if there are excessive moves by speculators,” the vice finance minister for international affairs said in an interview with Kyodo.
The dollar fell about 1.2 percent to 156.34 yen on Wednesday, as traders suspected another round of official buying by Tokyo, after Japanese authorities intervened last week to likely pull the currency from a 38-year low.
The Ministry of Finance was not immediately available for comment.
Data from the Bank of Japan released a day earlier suggested Tokyo may have intervened to support the yen on two consecutive days last week — Thursday and Friday — by spending an estimated 6 trillion yen ($38.38 billion). The government said it would not confirm whether authorities intervened in the market.
While there are various factors behind the currency’s moves, “the biggest one is speculation,” Kanda was quoted as saying by Kyodo.
In remarks that appeared to be an implicit confirmation of the authorities’ move, he added: “We communicate very closely with the authorities of each country and adhere to international agreements, so there has been no criticism from other countries.”
(1 dollar = 156.3300 yen)