TOKYO (MNI) – Japan’s foreign reserves fell to $1.043 trillion at
the end of March from $1.051 trillion at end-February and were below the
record high of $1.074 trillion marked at end-November 2009, the Ministry
of Finance said on Wednesday.
The country’s forex reserves remain the second largest in the
world, next to China’s, which are estimated at $2.40 trillion at the end
of 2009.
Foreign exchange reserves consist of securities and deposits
denominated in foreign currencies, International Monetary Fund reserves,
IMF special drawing rights (SDRs) and gold.
At the end of last month, Japan’s foreign currency reserves stood
at $990.51 billion, IMF reserves at $4.03 billion, SDRs at $20.31
billion, gold at $27.44 billion and other reserve assets at $413
million.
Japan’s forex reserves are closely watched for evidence of how the
country is managing its vast foreign currency holdings.
The biggest changes in Japan’s forex reserves usually occur when
the Bank of Japan intervenes in the currency market on behalf of the MOF
to prevent a steep appreciation or depreciation of the yen.
Japan has not intervened since mid-March 2004, when it ended its
massive 15-month-long yen-selling operation.
tokyo@marketnews.com
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[TOPICS: M$J$$$,M$A$$$,MAJDS$]
