Japan Suffers Record $79 Billion Foreign Reserve Drop Amid Yen Intervention

Japan's foreign reserves saw their largest-ever drop in August, according to government data released on Monday. The reserves stood at $1.208 trillion at the end of August, down by a record $79.6 billion, or 6.18 per cent, from $1.287 trillion a month earlier.

The decline was led by a drop in foreign securities, held mostly in U.S. Treasuries bought during dollar-buying intervention conducted around two decades ago, which account for about 70 per cent of Japan's reserves.

The Japanese government spent 15.4 trillion yen ($98.66 billion) on intervention between July 30 and August 26, marking the largest intervention operation on record in a single month.