Yen Weakens to ¥160 against Dollar in First since 1990; Investors Selling Yen, Buying Dollars after BOJ Meeting (Update 1)

By Yasuhiro Kobayashi / Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent

11:01 JST, April 29, 2024 (updated at 15:20 JST)

The yen temporarily weakened to ¥160 against the dollar in foreign exchange markets on Monday, a low not hit in about 34 years.

The currency has been shedding value since the results of the Bank of Japan’s monetary policy meeting were announced Friday. It had been trading at around ¥155.50 to the dollar in foreign exchange markets before the meeting.

While there has been growing interest in how to stop the yen’s rapid decline, the BOJ’s decision to maintain its current policy interest rates led to more yen selling and dollar buying.

At a press conference held later on Friday by BOJ Gov. Kazuo Ueda, market watchers saw no strong intent to curb the yen’s decline.

While the BOJ left its rates unchanged, concerns about inflation in the United States mean the country’s Federal Reserve could delay cutting its own rates. And with the rate gap between the two countries likely to continue, investors have been selling the yen to buy dollars and secure better profits.

However, there is increasing concern on the market the government and BOJ could intervene by buying the yen and selling the dollar.