The woman at the center of Japan’s currency fight
Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama is under pressure to strengthen the yen while balancing competing demands from the prime minister and Washington.
On a Monday evening in May, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent dined with Japan's finance minister, Satsuki Katayama, at an upscale Japanese restaurant nestled within a historic 400-year-old garden in downtown Tokyo. Bessent was scheduled to meet with Japan's prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, the following day but first, he needed to voice his concerns.
Over a two-hour dinner, Bessent expressed his dissatisfaction with the economic strategy set forth by Takaichi. During their conversation, the finance minister had been expanding government spending while seeking assistance from the Bank of Japan to maintain low interest rates. These policies were causing capital to flow out of Tokyo, resulting in Japan's currency reaching four-decade lows.
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