Japan Boosts Yen Rhetoric as Climb Puts Cloud Over Abenomics
- Authorities will `respond appropriately when necessary'
- Finance chief declines comment on if Japan already intervened
This article is for subscribers only.
Japanese officials stepped up their expressions of concern about a soaring yen as the currency’s renewed strength threatened to undermine the government’s Abenomics program to revive the nation’s economy.
With the yen trading near a 15-month high against the dollar, concern is growing that this will reduce the competitiveness of Japanese exports and also cut the value of profits brought home from overseas operations. A weaker outlook for earnings risks undermining the country’s annual round of wage talks, currently under way. And by making imports cheaper, the trend also hurts the Bank of Japan’s campaign to spur inflation.