Bessent Says Yen's Decline 'Pretty Well Contained' Despite Recent Weakness

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the yen's recent decline is not disorderly, and Washington is not currently pressing Japan for another currency intervention.

Bessent made these comments on Sunday, noting that the yen slipped below the closely watched 160-per-dollar threshold last week, but still appears to be moving orderly.

This marks a change in tone from last month, when the U.S. and Japan jointly intervened in currency markets for the first time in decades to counter what Bessent described as 'disorderly' moves in the yen and Japanese government bonds.

The intervention was driven by a wide interest-rate gap between Japan and the U.S., with the Bank of Japan (BOJ) moving cautiously to withdraw years of ultra-loose monetary policy, while the Federal Reserve has kept U.S. borrowing costs relatively high.

Bessent expects BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda to 'do the right thing' on monetary policy, with the support of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, but declined to tell the central bank how aggressively it should raise rates.