Japan's currency diplomat says Tokyo in constant FX dialogue with US
By Tetsushi Kajimoto
TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan's top financial diplomat Masato Kanda said on Tuesday authorities were in close contact with U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and other overseas authorities almost every day on currencies and broader financial markets.
The remarks likely signal Tokyo's desire to keep market players on guard against the chance of currency intervention to prop up the Japanese currency, which has been hovering near the 145-per-dollar level, seen as authorities' line-in-the-sand on the currency.
«We are exchanging views with and communicating with authorities in other countries including our ally the United States not only on currencies, financial markets but various other issues,» Kanda told reporters.
The yen fell to near eight-month lows against the dollar last week, prompting Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki to warn against excessive yen selling after it weakened past the 145 to the dollar threshold. Beyond that level, some market players see 150 yen as a new threshold.
Japanese authorities say they look at the speed of yen falls, rather than levels, and whether the moves are driven by speculators, in deciding whether to step in.
They also consider it important to seek the support of Group of Seven partners, notably the United States if the intervention involves the dollar.
Japan bought yen in September, its first foray in the market to boost its currency since 1998, after a Bank of Japan (BOJ) decision to maintain ultra-loose policy drove the yen as low as 145 per dollar. The U.S. Treasury said after last year's intervention that such actions should be rare.
The United States last month removed Japan from its currency monitoring list in its twice-yearly currency report. Some market players
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