Japan's Finance Ministry's Vice Finance Minister for International Affairs Kanda. He is the official who will instruct the BOJ to intervene, when he judges it necessary. Often referred to as Japan's 'top currency diplomat'.
If you are confused about Kanda commenting, I get it. Japan appointed a replacement, Atsushi Mimura, at the end of June. However, he takes over from Kanda on July 31, following the meeting of the Group of 20 finance ministers and central bank governors in Rio de Janeiro from July 25. So for now, its still Mr. K in the big chair.
USD/JPY is above 159.40, nibbling away at its overnight 'gap' down.
Kanda's comments:
- Recent yen moves are somewhat rapid
- Will take appropriate action on forex if needed
- Did not comment whether intervened fx market
- Can't think if government officials commented on forex intervention
- Yen moved 5% in the past month, which is significant
- It is natural to think recent forex moves were driven by speculators
- Weak yen pushes up import costs, which would hurt people's lives
- Undesirable if excessive forex moves triggered by speculators hurt people's lives
Some dude in the comments splitting grammatical hairs, here you go:
