Key facts
- Mimura, vice finance minister for international affairs, said recent currency moves have been excessively rapid.
- Mimura declined to comment on the current exchange-rate level.
- The dollar reached 159.94 yen early on November 12, its strongest in over two months.
- Mimura cited Japan's yen-buying interventions in late July through early August, including one with the US.
Japan's vice finance minister for international affairs, Atsushi Mimura, said on November 12 that recent currency moves have been excessively rapid, renewing a warning against excessive foreign exchange volatility as the yen again edged toward 160 per dollar.
"I won't comment on the current exchange-rate level, but I believe recent currency moves have been excessively rapid," Mimura told reporters in Tokyo. He added: "It's still too early to forget what happened this summer," an apparent reference to Japan's yen-buying interventions in late July through early August, including one conducted jointly with the US.
The dollar rose to 159.94 against the Japanese yen early on November 12, its strongest in over two months. Reuters attributed the move to growing expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates after hot US inflation data and remarks from policymakers that it described as hawkish.