Jan 13 (Reuters) – Japan’s Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said she and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent shared concerns over what she called the yen’s recent “one-sided depreciation”, after the Japanese currency hit one-year lows.
“I conveyed my deep concern over the one-sided depreciation of the yen, seen also on January 9, and Secretary Bessent shared this view,” Katayama told reporters in Washington.
Katayama was speaking after a bilateral meeting with Bessent on the sidelines of a multilateral meeting on critical mineral supply chains.
The dollar rose to one-year highs above 158 yen after a report late last week that Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi may call a February snap election to capitalise on her strong public approval ratings, securing a mandate for her expansionary fiscal policy.
Katayama also said she told the multilateral meeting about Tokyo’s stance on Beijing’s ban on exports of items destined for Japan’s military that have civilian and military uses, potentially including some critical minerals.
“I told the meeting that it’s highly problematic because it covers an extremely broad range of items with vague wording and includes re‑export restrictions that affect third countries, including the members present in the meeting,” she said.
(Reporting by Makiko Yamazaki in Tokyo; Editing by Chris Reese and Jamie Freed)
