Bessent says yen moves ‘pretty contained’ and not disorderly

ASHEVILLE, North Carolina – U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that recent movements in the Japanese yen have been "pretty well contained," implying that the currency's recent declines were not viewed as the type of disorderly shifts that prompted a rare collaboration between Japan and the United States in intervening last month.

The yen fell below the 160-per-dollar mark on Friday, a level that many considered raising the probability of another intervention, prompting market focus on whether the U.S. and Japan could once again step in to support the yen. In a recent interview, Bessent expressed confidence in Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda following through with monetary policy decisions under the support of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, when questioned about whether the central bank should contemplate successive interest rate increases to address the yen's depreciation.