Japanese authorities made a historic move in foreign exchange markets last July, selling $50 billion in dollars to prop up the yen. The Ministry of Finance (MOF) revealed on Monday that Japan intervened on three consecutive days from July 30 through August 3. The largest single-day operation occurred on July 30, with a record 7.98 trillion yen ($50.36 billion) spent, surpassing the previous high of 6.28 trillion yen set on April 30.
The data also showed additional interventions of 5.55 trillion yen on July 31 and 1.87 trillion yen on August 3. The July 31 intervention coincided with a rare joint action by the US, which sold euros for yen. This followed a record monthly intervention of 15.4 trillion yen ($97.19 billion) from July 30 through August 26.
Tsuyoshi Ueno, senior economist at NLI Research Institute, noted that the massive scale of intervention reflected the government's urgency to halt the yen's decline. He cautioned that the yen could remain under pressure due to unresolved issues surrounding Iran, a key factor in the currency's weakness. The yen had reached its weakest levels in 40 years, nearing 164 per dollar.
The Bank of Korea also coordinated its own won-buying intervention with Japan's efforts to enhance their impact, as reported by South Korean officials at the time.