Japan former top currency
diplomat Naoyuki Shinohara spoke with Reuters. Highlights:
Japan likely won’t seek to reverse the yen’s downtrend with exchange-rate intervention as recent falls reflect economic fundamentals, former top currency diplomat Naoyuki Shinohara told Reuters. There is no set rule or shared agreement among G7 advanced nations on what kind of currency moves are defined as “excess volatility” that justify intervention,
- “Usually, when you talk about excess volatility you have
in mind a timeframe of several days or weeks,” rather than
several months - “Japanese authorities are well aware that they can’t reverse
the market’s tide when the yen’s decline is driven by economic
fundamentals,” - “When you have steady yen falls over a protracted period,
that’s usually a trend driven by fundamentals,” - “If the recent weak yen is indeed a source of concern for
Japan, the best way to deal with it would be for the BOJ to
normalise its ultra-loose monetary policy,” - “The finance ministry ought to focus on responding to abrupt
yen moves that are out of line with the broad trend,”