Japanese authorities conducted a record single-day yen-buying intervention in foreign exchange markets in April, selling $40 billion worth of dollars. {claim:1}

Data from Japan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) released on Friday shows that interventions occurred on three days between April 30 and May 6. {claim:2} These operations took place during a period of thin market liquidity caused by Japan's Golden Week holidays. {claim:3}

6.28 trillion yen

Single-day yen-buying operation on April 30

The largest single-day operation, totaling 6.28 trillion yen ($39.64 billion) on April 30, surpassed the previous record of 5.92 trillion yen set on April 29, 2024. {claim:4, claim:5} The Ministry of Finance used data dating back to 1991 to identify the record-breaking intervention. {claim:6}

The interventions helped lift the Japanese yen from a near two-year low of 160.725 per dollar to approximately 155 by May 6. {claim:8} Total interventions conducted between April 28 and May 27 amounted to 11.7 trillion yen. {claim:7}

Despite these actions, the yen's broader downtrend was not reversed. {claim:9} The Japanese yen slid to 40-year lows below 163 per dollar in July. {claim:10}

Recent coordinated interventions and liquidity

Japan intervened again in the foreign exchange market last week in coordination with the US. {claim:11} In that coordinated effort, the US Treasury sold euros to buy yen. {claim:17}

Central bank data indicated Japan may have spent as much as $58.97 billion on July 30 and $36.58 billion on the following day. {claim:12} Tokyo and Washington have stated that Japan could utilize a COVID-19 era Federal Reserve backstop for major central banks to manage large-scale interventions. {claim:14}

The Federal Reserve facility, introduced in 2020, allows Japan to raise dollar liquidity without the outright sale of US Treasuries. {claim:15} However, Federal Reserve data showed that no repurchase agreements were executed under foreign official accounts in the week through August 5, indicating Japan did not use the Fed facility in its latest operation. {claim:16}

The US Treasury confirmed the reallocation of reserve assets.
— US Treasury spokesman, according to the Financial Times

The Financial Times reported on Thursday that the European Central Bank (ECB) was made aware of the US intervention last week after the trade occurred. {claim:18} Some senior ECB officials viewed the US decision to use euros in its trade as an unprecedented breach of longstanding conventions on co-operation between Western monetary authorities. {claim:19}

The Japanese Ministry of Finance is scheduled to release official records on August 28. {claim:13}