By Chieko Tsuneoka
TOKYO--Japan said Thursday that it intervened in currency markets to sell dollars and buy yen, the first such intervention in 24 years, in a bid to stem the recent sharp fall of the Japanese currency.
The vice minister of finance, Masato Kanda, confirmed the intervention in brief comments to reporters. He said Tokyo took decisive measures to stem what it had earlier described as an unwelcome fall in the yen.
Earlier Thursday, the yen fell as low as 145.87 to the dollar, its lowest level since 1998. Traders have been buying dollars and selling yen this year in part because of Japan's widening interest-rate differential with the U.S., where the Federal Reserve has been steadily raising rates. The Bank of Japan reiterated Thursday that it was sticking to its ultraeasy monetary policy.
In the wake of the government's intervention, the yen gained back some ground and was trading at slightly more than 143 yen to the dollar in late afternoon Tokyo time.
Thursday's case was the first time since 1998 that the Japanese government intervened in currency markets by buying yen. There have been instances since then when it sold yen to stem what it viewed as an excessive rise in the Japanese currency.
Write to Chieko Tsuneoka at chieko.Tsuneoka@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
09-22-22 0453ET
