Japan's currency intervention reaches 15,399.3 billion yen
Japan's Ministry of Finance reported 15,399.3 billion yen of currency intervention between 30 July and 26 August. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent defended July's joint yen purchases, saying disorderly yen markets can raise borrowing costs for American households and businesses. The ministry total provides the official record of the operation's scale, while Bessent supplied his own rationale for the intervention.
Economics & Markets··Morning
The ministry reports the intervention total
Japan's Ministry of Finance published a total of 15,399.3 billion yen of foreign-exchange intervention on 28 August for the period from 30 July to 26 August 2026. The ministry reports such totals monthly for a fixed reporting period, while the daily breakdown is released separately on a quarterly schedule. The monthly total is therefore an official measurement drawn from the ministry's own records rather than a market estimate of the operation's size.[1]
Bessent defends yen purchases
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent defended July's yen purchases in a letter released on Friday. Bessent said disorderly yen markets can trigger forced unwinds and raise borrowing costs for American households and businesses. The ministry's official total measures the operation's scale, while Bessent's account provides its stated rationale related to market order.[1], [2]
The joint operation's framework
Bessent wrote that existing Exchange Stabilization Fund foreign-currency assets were used, that no credit was extended to Japan and that there is therefore no debt to repay. The report said the late-July joint action was the first US intervention to buy yen since 1998. On Friday the yen moved below 160 per dollar for the first time since that day. That price move is a separate market observation from the ministry's reported period total.[2]
