In the Tokyo foreign exchange market on the 22nd, as the yen depreciated to the upper 145 yen level to the dollar, the government and the Bank of Japan decided to intervene in the market by selling the dollar and buying the yen in order to stop the rapid depreciation of the yen. , The yen appreciated rapidly to the first half of the 140 yen range.

In the Tokyo foreign exchange market, moves to sell the yen and buy the dollar accelerated after Bank of Japan Governor Kuroda said at a press conference at 3:30 p.m. that he would not raise interest rates for the time being. , the yen exchange rate fell to the upper 145 yen level to the dollar during the press conference.



The yen exchange rate as of 5:00 pm was 145.77 to 78.00 yen to the US dollar, 2.03 yen lower than the 21st.



However, after that, when the government and the Bank of Japan decided to intervene in the market by selling the dollar and buying the yen, the yen exchange rate rose sharply to the low 140 yen level to the dollar at one point.



As of 5:00 p.m., the exchange rate against the euro was 143.50 to 143.54 yen, a 1.5 yen depreciation against the euro compared to the 21st.



The euro was 1 euro = 0.9844 to 46 dollars against the dollar.

Market insider “The impact was great”

A market insider said, "The government and the Bank of Japan have repeatedly made remarks to restrain the depreciation of the yen, but the impact was great because there were doubts as to whether they would actually intervene in the market." I'm talking to



On the other hand, at today's monetary policy meeting, the Bank of Japan reiterated its stance of continuing monetary easing, so there is no change in the composition of the widening interest rate differential between Japan and the United States, and from a long-term perspective, the yen is likely to continue depreciating. The environment will continue to be easy to progress," he said, indicating that he would like to determine the scale and effect of market intervention.

What is the ``dollar-selling-yen-buying'' intervention since 1998?

Market interventions are carried out by monetary authorities to invest huge amounts of money to buy and sell currencies in the foreign exchange market in order to stop the sudden depreciation or appreciation of the yen in the exchange market.



It is implemented under the authority of the Minister of Finance, and the Bank of Japan, which has received instructions from the Ministry of Finance, will buy and sell dollars and yen.



In order to put the brakes on the sudden depreciation of the yen, the “sell the dollar and buy the yen” intervention sells the dollar funds in the national special account and buys the yen.



According to the Ministry of Finance, the funds in the special account of the country as of the end of August were 1.292 trillion dollars, or more than 187 trillion yen in Japanese yen.



Although the breakdown of the special account has not been clarified, many of them are believed to be dollar assets.



Due to limited funds, market interventions cannot be carried out indefinitely.



It was the first time since 1998, 24 years ago, when the Japanese economy was facing a financial crisis, that the government and the Bank of Japan decided to intervene in the market by selling the dollar and buying the yen.



In Japan at that time, the Hokkaido Takushoku Bank and Yamaichi Securities went bankrupt one after another in the previous year, and the yen was sold in the market due to concerns about the financial system, and the yen weakened against the dollar.



The government and the Bank of Japan intervened three times in April and June, ``selling the dollar and buying the yen,'' citing the possibility that the rapid depreciation of the yen could hurt the Japanese economy. .