All options on table to counter excess currency moves: finance chief

It's been a very expensive Rugby World Cup for sure. The Euro even more expensive than the dollar. On the beer parity index it's ¥1500 plus per pint!

all options have been on the table since last year, and nothing has changed.

We work our asses off to fund inexistent welfare, high taxes and God knows what.

Japan needs to forcefully REMOVE people from powerful positions when they reach the age of 65, and move on.

No new approaches and ideas can be born from old minds.

Raising interest rates again not mentioned so nothing will change. Investors will move their cash where they can get a return.

Decades long money printing and irresponsible fiscal spending aka MMT. Guess debt does matter!

"Foreign exchange rates should be determined by market forces, reflecting fundamentals," Suzuki said.

"We will respond as appropriate to excessive volatility without ruling out any options," the finance minister said

Market forces in accord with fundamentals have resulted in the yen weakening, in an orderly fashion.

So therefore, the FinMin is possibly, like last year, going to step into the market and sell billions of precious US dollars to act against fundamentals and market forces, creating excessive volatility.

Didn’t the FinMin know that Japanese depositors can flip their yen for dollars and get paid circa 5% interest now?

What does he do with his own money?

Well he can inside trade all he likes I guess, but when you can get 5% a year just holding dollars in the bank, and zero for your yen, most sane people are going to have a good think about changing into those dollars.

That is not excessive speculation. It is market forces in line with fundamentals. What does the FinMin think that 5% is? Imaginary?

The only option I see to get the yen stronger again is for the government to stop its chronic deficit spending and the BOJ to stop printing money to finance it.

That would see a nice reversal in the yen, methinks (in the short term at least), but alas, this is one of the “all options” that I doubt is on their table.

These clowns seem to have a death wish for the Japanese economy for nearly 30 years now.

The only thing to change the rate in the short term is Japan raising its interest rate, or the US cutting its.

The only thing to change the rate in the short term is Japan raising its interest rate

Not sure that would have much effect actually, even if they did/could. Japan’s rate is basically 0% and they won’t hike big like foreign central banks but in tiny moves, and the US equivalent rate is already waaay above. And they could hike further.

If they do intervene, I will scrape together some more yen to sell until I still can :)

These Old Men need to Retire it is the same old and it is going to be the SAME OLD until they leave.

If they don't use the exit door, our economy is going to keep nose diving and people are going to be eventually if they already not living on the street.

Praying for change sooner than later is all I can say.

"All options on the table" is the code word for Japan engaging in currency manipulation.

Another possibility is a breakthrough in relations with China leading to massive investment in Japan like Chinese did to the real estate markets in the US, Canada and Australia. I would be screwed and have to move to inaka.

I know several people very well paid but will local contracts who decided to leave Japan because they were fed up to be paid in a melting currency. This is very bad for Japan which is badly in need of foreign skilled and unskilled labor.

in addition this crazy money printing will not be able to go on forever as it will end up in high inflation. Japan will then be forced by markets to raise taxes aggressively.

The future is quite bleak.

decided to leave Japan because they were fed up to be paid in a melting currency. This is very bad for Japan which is badly in need of foreign skilled and unskilled labor.

Amen.

If this were just a temporary cyclical thing, people would be able to look past it, but it’s striking recently how down on the yen even the experts have become.

I remember reading a book called “Weak Japan’s Strong Yen”, I guess published before Abenomics.

The same author was on tv recently and his story is now more like weak Japan’s weak currency.

in addition this crazy money printing will not be able to go on forever as it will end up in high inflation. Japan will then be forced by markets to raise taxes aggressively.

I don’t know that the markets can force the government to raise taxes.

But the markets can continue to punish the value of the yen.

The future is quite bleak.

It could be turned around!

On the bright side of things, Japan is not as bad as Argentina or Turkey. But this direction is not good, and it’d be reassuring if at least some political party would come out and state the plain facts. I don’t know if half the voters would believe it, but lying to the voters and not be honest with them is really terrible policy.

I think that, at some stage, the Japanese government will not be able to finance the public deficit anymore through additional money printing due to its impact on the JPY (decided by FX markets) and surging inflation. It will then have to finance part of it through additional taxes.

Having said that Japan has shown that in very challenging situations it could turn things around and rebound amazingly (Meiji restauration, reconstruction after ww2). So let’s keep hope!

"Foreign exchange rates should be determined by market forces, reflecting fundamentals," Suzuki said.

…

If that were true then there wouldn’t be any intervention at all, would there?

You’ve got to feel sorry for the Japanese people and foreigners who earn in yen because at this rate they will find it near impossible to travel abroad comfortably and make ends meet back at home!

The silence from the Japanese public is just giving the Reserve Bank of Japan and The Japanese Government more freedom to keep the yen get weaker and weaker!

The way the yen has lost its value against the dollar in recent months is just the same as direct devaluations of a currency! Ten years ago the currency rate was 1USD = 75 yen and now it’s almost double to around 150yen! With any other country this would have been classified as currency value manipulation and outright objections from global powers but with Japan this was allowed to get to this point where the livelihood of the Japanese people hangs on the balance! Shame on all these corrupt Governments!

Of COURSE all options are on the table -- they always are. But Japan will choose the usual option of sitting on the floor and wondering what the purpose of a table of options is, and then do nothing but talk about it.

No new approaches and ideas can be born from old minds.

No new approaches and ideas can be born from old minds.

America is kicking ass and who is at the helm? Joe Biden, an old guy...don't be ageist. Judge these people on their merits, not their age. I agree these politicians suck but it's their attitude, not their age that's the problem.

I don't know anyone who holds the poison yen apart from what is needed for everyday living. We have all been investing in Swiss Francs and Dollars for a long time.

gold too

All options on table to counter excess currency moves

the Yen is about where it is supposed to be. Just leave it alone.

I remember the yen falling to nearly 170 for one euro. There is some margin.

All long term forecast (5 years) see the yen keep dwindling.

Hey, bad demography, increasing social spending and low innovation level costs a lot to defend the yen value.

There is still about 3000 billion $ of net foreign assets under the mattress for Japan. It Ill suffice for some time.

Jonathan PrinToday  05:18 am JST

I remember the yen falling to nearly 170 for one euro. There is some margin.

indeed it was 165 early 2008 but if you take into consideration the difference of inflation between the 2 countries since then (EU 35% and Japan less than 10%) in real purchasing power the JPY is much weaker now than when it was at 165.

Today the US dollar is 149.

If it hits 150 then it will be riding higher in the near future too

America is kicking ass and who is at the helm? Joe Biden,

I think people give too much credit to the President.

It seems to me that Congress is more important? But mostly Americans matter most

And there is a difference between places like America and Japan. In places like America, the natural state is to have economic growth. In Japan recently, the place is so locked down by rules and regulations that the natural state is malaise.

So in America, government can act as a brake.

but in Japan, the car is broken and the govt feels the o my thing it can do is get out and try to push the damn vehicle itself.