US Treasury Eyes Yen Intervention with $5 Billion to $10 Billion Purchase Plan

A recent Treasury Department memo has revealed plans to buy Japanese yen in an amount ranging from $5 billion to $10 billion. This potential intervention by the US government would mark its first direct yen-support operation since 2011.

The note, scribbled in Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's notebook, was accidentally exposed to news cameras during a Cabinet meeting at Camp David in Maryland on August 31. A Reuters photograph captured the 'To Do' heading with the line 'Buy $5 billion-$10 billion Japanese yen' clearly written underneath.

The foreign-exchange market showed two bouts of yen strength that day, with Japanese authorities appearing to step in during morning trading and again later in the afternoon. The exchange rate moved from 158.9 yen per dollar at 4:14 p.m. Eastern time to 157.6 just before 5 p.m., a drop of about 0.8%.