Bessent meets BOJ's Ueda, calls for sound policy to avoid currency volatility, Treasury says

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent met with Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda in Asheville, North Carolina on September 1. The meeting occurred during the G20 finance ministers and central bank governors' gathering. Bessent urged for sound monetary policy to stabilize inflation expectations and prevent excessive currency fluctuations.

This statement aligns with Bessent's recent advocacy for the Bank of Japan to increase interest rates. The discussion with Ueda supports Ueda's argument to propose a rate hike at the upcoming Bank of Japan policy meeting on September 17-18. During their conversation, Bessent stressed the significance of carefully crafting and communicating monetary policy to anchor inflation expectations and curb excess exchange rate volatility.

He also expressed solidarity with Japan's aggressive market and monetary actions to tackle the yen's significant undervaluation. Ueda and Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama were participating in a two-day G20 finance leaders meeting that concluded on Tuesday.