Bessent says Treasury backed Japan's currency policies
The Treasury secretary described the support as a nominal statement, following weeks of coordinated action on the yen.
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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the U.S. Treasury signaled support for Japanese policies, describing the gesture as a nominal amount rather than a new financial commitment.
The remark follows a period of unusual coordination between Washington and Tokyo on the yen. Japan spent 15.4 trillion yen, about $96.5 billion, defending its currency between July 30 and August 26, a record for that stretch, according to Japanese Finance Ministry data cited by CNBC. A Reuters photograph earlier showed a notepad of Bessent's reading "Buy Japanese Yen (JPY) $5-10 bil," though Treasury has not disclosed the size of any U.S. contribution. CNBC reported that the late-July intervention marked the first joint U.S.-Japan yen-buying effort since 1998.
Bessent has previously said the U.S. would "do whatever it takes" to support Japan's currency stabilization, framing it as a benefit to the American economy and taxpayer, according to Reuters. He has also said intervention alone cannot set the yen's direction, and that Japan needs monetary and fiscal policies to reinforce it. Roic News reported that he expects Tokyo to pair such policies with intervention ahead of the Bank of Japan's meeting on September 17 and 18, seen as a test of whether the central bank will raise rates and continue normalizing policy. Separately, Bessent has urged Japan's government to give the Bank of Japan more room to fight inflation, arguing that this had previously helped lift Japanese stocks to record highs, per a report cited by mexc.com.
For markets, the statement adds a mild positive note to the U.S.-Japan relationship but does not signal any shift in U.S. Treasury strategy. Bessent has spent recent weeks stressing the strength of the U.S. economy, the smooth running of Treasury operations and the resilience of the dollar, and a nominal endorsement of Japanese policy does not change any of those themes.