The Japanese and U.S. finance ministers met in person at the G20 meeting in Asheville, North Carolina, and discussed the yen's movements and foreign exchange trends immediately after coordinated intervention. U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent also held a separate meeting with the BOJ governor.
The Japanese and U.S. finance ministers met on 31 August on the sidelines of the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting being held in Asheville, North Carolina. The two are believed to have discussed movements in the yen exchange rate and the effects of the yen-buying intervention conducted on 31 July. This was their first face-to-face meeting since the coordinated intervention.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent also met with BOJ Governor Ueda.
The yen weakened against the dollar to the ¥160-per-dollar range at one point in the New York market on the 28th, and market views are divided over the intervention's effectiveness. The Ministry of Finance announced the total intervention amount during the intervention period on a monthly basis as ¥15.3993 trillion, reportedly a new record for monthly intervention.
No specific conclusions were presented regarding foreign exchange trends after 31 August, and it has been reported that the government and the Bank of Japan may continue to take appropriate measures. The meeting suggests that Japan and the United States continue to discuss measures to stabilize foreign exchange markets.
In a media interview, Bessent said that the Japanese government and the Bank of Japan would take measures that would lead to a stronger yen, reportedly signaling market expectations of a BOJ rate hike.