The government will consider seeking coordinated intervention with currency authorities of other countries to try to lower the value of the yen if the currency continues its sharp advance against the dollar, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda indicated Thursday.
"If exchange rates are deemed as not reflecting economic fundamentals accurately, we must consider some action," the top government spokesman told reporters when asked about the possibility of Japan asking for joint intervention with other major countries.
A stronger yen hurts Japanese exports, the main engine of Japan's economic recovery.
Bank of Japan Policy Board member Hidehiko Haru and Haruhiko Kuroda, former vice finance minister for international affairs, also expressed concern Thursday over the yen's surge against the dollar.
"Particular attention needs to be paid to whether the dollar's slide will go on," Haru said in a speech in Kumamoto Prefecture.
Kuroda told reporters in Tokyo, "The dollar's weakness is a bit excessive."
Kuroda said the massive U.S. budget deficit, which has been singled out as a reason behind the dollar's sharp fall, will "decrease with an expected increase in (U.S.) tax revenue this year." Against this backdrop, "the dollar does not need to depreciate further," he said.
In overnight trading in New York, the dollar briefly plunged to 102.56 yen at one point, its lowest level in four years and eight months there.
Carrying over the downtrend, the dollar fell to 102.45 yen in Tokyo trading, its lowest level in four years and 10 months, before closing at 102.53 yen.