Japanese yen falls to 38-year low

The Japanese yen continued to weaken against the U.S. dollar. Along with the decline, the government appointed a new top foreign exchange diplomat. Japan’s yen fell to a 38-year low against the dollar. The government appointed a new top foreign exchange diplomat on Friday, raising expectations that Tokyo will soon intervene in the market to support the weakening currency. Atsushi Mimura, who has experience in financial regulation, replaced Masato Kanda. Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said Friday that authorities were “deeply concerned” about the impact of “rapid and unilateral” currency movements on the economy. The yen fell to more than 161 per dollar on Friday, its lowest level since 1986. Speaking at a regular news conference, Suzuki said authorities would respond appropriately to any excessive currency movements and that confidence in the Japanese currency remained intact. “The government is closely monitoring developments in the foreign exchange market with a high sense of urgency,” Suzuki said, adding that efforts to continue to move forward with financial reform were vital. Japanese authorities are under new pressure to stem the yen’s steep decline as investors focus on the interest rate differential between Japan and the U.S. Tokyo spent 9.8 trillion yen ($60.91 billion) intervening in the foreign exchange market in late April and early May after the Japanese currency hit a 34-year low of 160.245 per dollar on April 29.