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Bank of Japan spent oodles to halt yen's rise

The Japan Times
June 2, 2002
www.japantimes.co.jp

NEW YORK (Kyodo) -- The Bank of Japan spent between
$8 billion and $10 billion in foreign exchange markets
to stem the yen's surge Friday in one of the biggest
single-day interventions in recent years, dealers said.

The scale of the intervention matches a dollar-supporting
intervention carried out by the BOJ after the Sept. 11
terrorist attacks, signaling a strong determination by
Japanese monetary authorities to halt the yen's rapid rise,
they said.

The BOJ conducted dollar-buying operations to the tune
of $3 billion in Tokyo on Friday in its third intervention
in two weeks to curb the yen's upswing against the U.S.
dollar, while spending $2 billion to $3 billion in both
London and New York, dealers said.

quot;It has a strong impact (on currency markets) that the
government and the BOJ showed they are determined to
intervene intermittently,quot; one dealer said.

The BOJ conducted the latest interventions on its own
without asking the British and U.S. central banks to act
on its behalf, they said. The dollar leaped against the
yen on the BOJ intervention, rising as high as 124.60 yen
at one point in New York, against 123 yen.95-97 at 5 p.m.
Friday in Tokyo.

Dealers said the scale of the dollar-buying by the BOJ
since Wednesday comes close to 2 trillion yen, making
it possible the central bank's intervention in the
April-June quarter will surpass a record 3.2 trillion yen
in the July-September quarter last year.

The BOJ also stepped into currency markets on May 22
and 23.