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BOJ¥

People walk near the Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo on April 26.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 10, 2024
BOJ must avoid raising rates to combat weak yen, says ex-official
Higher borrowing costs would hit consumption and services inflation, said Tsutomu Watanabe, an expert on price trends.
People in a shopping district in Tokyo in March
BUSINESS / Economy
May 10, 2024
Japan’s households cut outlays as inflation remains sticky
Real outlays decreased 1.2% in March from a year before, falling for the 13th consecutive month.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda speaks during a news conference after a two-day monetary policy meeting at the BOJ headquarters in Tokyo on April 26.
BUSINESS
May 9, 2024
Many BOJ board members saw need for steady rate hikes in April, records show
Some saw the chance of a faster-than-expected pace of interest rate hikes on prospects of inflation durably staying or exceeding the bank's 2% target.
Real wages fell 2.5% from a year earlier in March, marking the 24th straight month of declines, exacerbated by a 9.4% drop in bonuses.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 9, 2024
Real wages fell for 24th month in March, dented by 9.4% decline in bonuses
Data for full-time workers that avoid sampling problems and exclude bonuses and overtime pay grew by 2.3%, above 2% for the seventh month.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda speaks to reporters on Tuesday at the Prime Minister's Office following a meeting with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 8, 2024
BOJ’s Ueda tweaks weak yen remarks in possible hint of rate hike
Yen weakness has escalated despite Japan’s first interest rate hike since 2007 in March.
Major banks as well as regional banks have raised their ordinary deposit rates to 0.02% per annum from 0.001%.
BUSINESS / Markets
May 6, 2024
Many banks in Japan raise deposit rates after BOJ action
Banks have also refrained from raising their lending rates, which would affect households and other corporate activities.
One analyst said Japanese policymakers "hid the intervention well," pointing to the ways they may have used to fund currency interventions recently.
BUSINESS / Markets
May 6, 2024
Market hunts for signs of yen intervention in Fed accounts
Recent data suggests that Japanese policymakers may have funded currency interventions using a Fed facility where central banks stash overnight cash.
Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers
BUSINESS / Economy
May 4, 2024
Ex-U.S. Treasury chief says currency interventions fail even at Japan’s scale
Policymakers likely spent some ¥9 trillion this week, an analysis of Bank of Japan accounts shows.
An electronic screen displays a graph showing Japanese yen exchange rates surging against the dollar amid signs of intervention by authorities, in Tokyo on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Markets
May 3, 2024
Japan's May 1 intervention may have cost ¥3.66 trillion, BOJ data suggests
The yen was at around ¥157.55 per dollar when it suddenly spiked, strengthening as far as ¥153 over the next half hour.
Although current FX interventions are not yet a significant concern for the U.S. Treasury market, large-scale interventions by major holders like Japan or China could pose risks in the future.
COMMENTARY
May 2, 2024
U.S. bonds brace for impact of Japan’s currency moves
Japan holds substantial dollar reserves, but if depleted, it might resort to selling U.S. bonds, though other measures would likely be considered first.
An electronic screen in Tokyo displays the yen exchange rate against the U.S. dollar and the graph showing its recent swings, on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Markets
May 2, 2024
Yen swings stir talk that Japan is in the FX market once again
The yen advanced more than 3% and hit ¥153.04 per dollar as more than $4 billion of yen-related futures were exchanged.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda holds a news conference after a policy meeting at the BOJ's headquarters in Tokyo on March 19.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 2, 2024
BOJ saw need to let markets drive yields upon March exit: minutes
The bank ended eight years of negative interest rates and its bond yield control at its March policy meeting.
An electric screen displaying the Nikkei share average and yen exchange rate against the U.S. dollar outside a brokerage in Tokyo on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
May 1, 2024
For Japan Inc., the weak yen may be too much of a good thing
The currency's weakness has pushed up costs of raw materials, food and fuel.
The root cause of yen weakness lies in the U.S., not Japan, with the currency falling to its weakest since around 1990.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 1, 2024
Japan should leave its currency bazooka at home
The root cause of yen weakness lies in the U.S., not Japan. That makes the latter's options very limited.
An analysis of the Bank of Japan's accounts suggests an intervention of about ¥5.5 trillion took place on Monday to prop up the yen.
BUSINESS / Markets
May 1, 2024
BOJ accounts suggest Japan intervened to support yen
The Bank of Japan said its current account will probably fall ¥7.56 trillion — much bigger than the drop of about ¥2.1 trillion estimated.
A man walks past an electronic board displaying the exchange rate for the yen against the U.S. dollar (right) in Tokyo on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 30, 2024
Did Japan intervene to prop up the yen? Analysts think it did.
The size and timing of the swing indicates that the government stepped in after the currency fell significantly.
Japan's vice minister of finance for international affairs, Masato Kanda, poses for a photograph during an interview at the Finance Ministry in Tokyo in January 2022.
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 30, 2024
Japan forex authorities ready '24 hours,' top currency diplomat Kanda says
Masato Kanda again declined to comment on whether the Finance Ministry had intervened to prop up the yen a day earlier.
The yen dropped to ¥160.245 per dollar on Monday before heading into the other direction to ¥155.01 amid speculation of an intervention by Japanese currency authorities.
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 29, 2024
Yen rebounds strongly after first slide past ¥160 since 1990
Japan's top currency official declined to comment on Monday, when asked if authorities in Tokyo had intervened in the currency market to prop up the yen.
Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki has reiterated the government's readiness to take an appropriate action as the yen continues to slide against the U.S. dollar.
BUSINESS / Markets / FOCUS
Apr 28, 2024
When will Japan intervene to support the yen?
The yen hit a 34-year low past ¥158.40 per dollar in U.S. trading on Friday, after the BOJ announced a decision to keep its monetary policy unchanged.
A monitor shows the yen's sharp decline to  ¥158 to the dollar on Saturday morning in Tokyo.
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 27, 2024
Yen drops beyond ¥157 per dollar as BOJ keeps key rate unchanged
Japan’s currency weakened as much as 1.4% on the day and touched a session low of ¥157.79 per dollar in afternoon trading in New York.

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A woman passes an "akichi" (vacant lot) in Bunkyo Ward, Tokyo. The capital is littered with such small lots in part because of Japan's aging and shrinking population.
Dealing with rising land vacancies as Japan shrinks