Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said Thursday every option is on the table to cope with excess volatility in foreign exchange markets, adding that the government is watching developments with a heightened sense of urgency.
The yen has been weakening toward the psychologically important 145 mark to the U.S. dollar, prompting the latest warning by Suzuki, who again vowed to take appropriate steps.
"One-sided currency moves or unstable ones are undesirable. We are closely watching market developments with a sense of increased urgency," Suzuki said.
"We will respond as needed to excessive currency moves without ruling out any options," the minister added.
Japanese authorities have been ramping up verbal warnings in recent days as financial markets expect the interest rate gap between Japan and the United States will widen and bought the dollar against the yen.
That market view was reinforced Wednesday by Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who underscored the need to stick to monetary easing and raising interest rates, respectively.
Japan has stayed out of the currency market since October, when it carried out yen-buying, dollar-selling intervention to stop the Japanese currency's rapid decline.
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