Katayama Denies Rate Hike Talks with Bessent Amid Yen Support Expectations

Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama has denied discussing potential interest rate hikes with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. This comes after Bessent publicly stated that he expects Japan to take steps to boost its currency, the yen.

Katayama and Bessent met on the sidelines of the G20 finance meeting in North Carolina, their first face-to-face since July's joint intervention to prop up the yen.

According to Katayama, monetary policy is left up to the Bank of Japan (BoJ), and there was no discussion about hiking interest rates. Bessent had stated that he expected Japan to take steps to support the yen, which has lost half its gains since the joint intervention.

The yen strengthened from ¥163.99 per dollar in July to ¥155.23 by early August but is now sitting around ¥159.80, prompting questions about the effectiveness of the move.