Japan refrained from selling yen in the foreign-exchange market last month, according to the Finance Ministry.

The nation didn't sell any of its currency from Jan. 30 to Feb. 27, the ministry's month-end data posted on its website shows. The yen last week tumbled to an almost nine-month low against the dollar after the Bank of Japan on Feb. 14 unexpectedly added ¥10 trillion to an asset-purchase program and set an inflation goal of 1 percent.

Japan told the Group of 20 finance ministers and central bank governors who gathered in Mexico City last weekend that it will take action against speculative yen moves, Finance Minister Jun Azumi has told reporters. The last time Japan intervened in the currency market to stem the yen's appreciation was on Nov. 4.

The nation sold ¥1.02 trillion during the first four days of November, following a record daily sale of ¥8.07 trillion on Oct. 31, according to ministry data. Its intervention totaled ¥14.3 trillion last year, the third-largest yearly amount, after ¥20.43 trillion in 2003 and ¥14.83 trillion in 2004, ministry data showed.

The yen tends to strengthen during economic and financial turmoil because the nation's current-account surplus makes it less reliant on foreign capital.

Exporters like ¥82 level

kyodo

The average dollar-yen rate for Japanese exporters to turn profits is ¥82 per dollar, the strongest level for the yen since the government began surveying exporters in 1986, according to a recent survey released by the Cabinet Office.

Given that the dollar has been in the ¥80 range recently, these companies are facing a tough reality where their cost-reduction efforts are still not keeping pace with current foreign-exchange rates despite the yen's recent weakening.

The survey was conducted in January on 2,378 companies listed on the first and second sections of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the Osaka Securities Exchange and the Nagoya Stock Exchange, with responses drawn from 890 companies, including 334 exporters.