Japan, US agree to continue coordination on yen, Katayama says

Japan and the United States agreed to keep coordinating efforts for orderly yen moves, Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said after meeting US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. The talks took place on the sidelines of a G20 finance meeting in Asheville, North Carolina, which closed on Tuesday. Katayama stressed that stable yen levels matter for markets worldwide, including in the United States.

The yen has slid back to about 160 per dollar, reviving talk of another joint intervention. Katayama declined to say whether that slide was orderly, while Bessent had called recent moves fairly contained. On Friday the currency briefly dipped below 160 after remarks from Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh, and it was near 159.80 in Asia on Tuesday.

Last month's joint action lifted the currency from a 40-year bottom of roughly 164 per dollar but has not provided lasting support. Katayama also described Japan's effort to gradually cut its debt-to-GDP ratio while keeping growth strong, and she declined to comment on the 10-year JGB yield near 3%. She said rate decisions rest with the Bank of Japan, which meets on September 17 and 18, with markets almost fully pricing in a rise from 1% to 1.25%.