STOCKS | Satsuki Katayama Says Japan-U.S. FX Intervention Helped, Downplays Rate-Hike Reports

Japan's Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said she and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent agreed that their recent joint intervention in the foreign exchange market had a positive effect. According to Sina Finance, she also downplayed reports that Bessent had been urging the Bank of Japan to raise its policy rate. Katayama told reporters in North Carolina on Monday local time that Bessent and she confirmed orderly yen moves were crucial to maintaining stability in global financial markets, including U.S. markets, and that continued Japan-U.S. coordination would help achieve that shared goal. She was in the state for the Group of 20 finance ministers' meeting. Despite the rare joint intervention by Japan and the United States in July, the yen remains under renewed downward pressure. After Fed Chair Kevin Warsh delivered a hawkish speech last week, the yen fell to a one-month low and touched its weakest level since the joint intervention. The weaker yen, along with Bessent's recent remarks suggesting Japan needs to raise rates, has led markets to speculate that the Bank of Japan may hike rates at its next meeting in September. Katayama said she did not discuss monetary policy with Bessent, contrary to reports in Japanese media. NHK earlier cited Erin Browne, U.S. Treasury Deputy Under Secretary for International Affairs, as saying Bessent told Katayama and Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda at separate meetings that Japan's next step should be to raise interest rates.