By Sylvan Lebrun
TOKYO–The current movement of the yen-dollar exchange rate is “one-sided and rapid,” Japan’s minister of finance Shunichi Suzuki said Tuesday.
The yen was trading at about 143.38 to the dollar midday in Tokyo Tuesday, weaker than around 140 to the dollar earlier this month.
Suzuki said the government was keeping a watchful eye on the movement of the foreign exchange market.
“Exchange rates should reflect fundamentals and progress in a stable manner,” Suzuki said at a regular news conference.
Asked whether the Japanese government was considering market intervention through yen purchases, a strategy it employed last fall, Suzuki answered that the government would “take the appropriate response” in the case of excessive movement.
The weaker yen has brought both “pluses and minuses” for the Japanese economy, according to Suzuki. Japanese businesses and trading firms that rely on imports have felt a significant burden, while exporters’ profits are on an upswing, he said.
Write to Sylvan Lebrun at sylvan.lebrun@wsj.com