TOKYO (MNI) – Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa said on
Wednesday that the central bank “strongly expects” that today’s
intervention orchestrated by the government to stem the yen’s sharp rise
should help stabilize the currency market.
He also said in a statement released after the Ministry of Finance
ordered the BOJ to conduct Japan’s first forex market intervention in
more than six years on Wednesday morning that the BOJ will maintain its
extremely accommodative monetary policy stance and continue injecting
ample cash into the financial markets.
Japan last intervened in mid-March 2004, when it ended its massive
15-month-long yen-selling operation against the dollar and euro.
The governor renewed his call for a close watch on the strong yen,
weak share prices and slower overseas demand as key downside risks to
Japan’s self-sustained economic growth and its recovery from years of
deflation.
The following is Shirakawa’s statement released by the BOJ.
“There has been growing uncertainty about the future, especially
for the U.S. economy, and foreign exchange and stock markets have been
unstable. In these circumstances, the downside risks to Japan’s economy
warrant attention.
“The Bank of Japan strongly expects that the action taken by the
Ministry of Finance in the foreign exchange market will contribute to a
stable foreign exchange rate formation.
“The Bank will, while pursuing strong monetary easing, continue to
provide ample liquidity to the financial markets.”
tokyo@marketnews.com
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