Japan finmin warns of action against disorderly yen moves (updated)

Mazda

04/06/2024 03:00

(Adds more comments and context)
       TOKYO, June 4 (Reuters) - Japan will continue to closely
watch the foreign exchange market and take all measures against
disorderly currency moves, Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said
on Tuesday after acknowledging that Tokyo had intervened
recently to stem yen weakness.
    Suzuki's comments followed the release on Friday of Ministry
of Finance data showing authorities spent 9.79 trillion yen
($62.2 billion) intervening in the market to support the yen
over the past month, showed.
    "The intervention was conducted to address excessive
volatility driven by speculative moves in the currency market,"
Suzuki said, speaking at a regular post-cabinet meeting news
conference. 
    "We believe it had a certain effect from this standpoint,"
he said, the first time Japanese officials have publicly
confirmed that Tokyo had intervened in the currency market late
in April and early May.
    "The government will continue to closely monitor
developments in the foreign exchange market and take all
possible measures," the finance minister added.
    Asked about a widening safety test scandal that now forced  
  Toyota Motor  7203.T  and Mazda  7261.T  to halt shipments of
some vehicles, Suzuki said he was concerned about potentially
large auto production cuts in the future.
    "The halt of automobile production has a very large impact
on the Japanese economy," he said, noting that previous
production halts had negatively impacted first quarter gross
domestic product growth. 
    "We will closely monitor how the impact would widen."

 (Reporting by Makiko Yamazaki and Satoshi Sugiyama; Editing by
Jacqueline Wong and Shri Navaratnam)
 ((Makiko.Yamazaki@thomsonreuters.com; +81-3-4563-2805;))