Japan yesterday stepped up its warnings over recent steep rises in the yen, with the government pressing the Bank of Japan to help support the economy ahead of its two-day monetary policy meeting.
Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan called on the Bank of Japan (BOJ) to support the country’s economy as the stronger yen is a “source of concern” for the government.
The administration “wants the BOJ to underpin the economy with its monetary policy,” Kan said.
Photo: Bloomberg
The request came before the Bank of Japan holds a two-day policy meeting starting today amid expectations that it may decide further easing measures to boost the economy.
Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa said the yen’s strength threatened the profits of Japan’s biggest exporters and could inflict harm on the world’s third-biggest economy.
“We are paying particular attention to the negative impact of the yen’s appreciation on the economy, such as a decline in exports and corporate profits, as well as a deterioration in business sentiment under the current conditions, where uncertainty is high on the outlook for overseas economies,” he said.
The Ministry of Finance has aimed to engage in discussions on foreign exchange intervention with its counterparts in the US and Europe, Dow Jones Newswires reported. Japanese Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda has said the yen is “overvalued” and its recent rise did not reflect economic fundamentals, with the unit’s strength driven by the weakness of other major currencies.
The US dollar has tumbled in recent weeks against the yen, approaching its post-war low of 76.25 struck in March because of risks associated with US debt and recent data pointing to renewed weakness in the world’s biggest economy.
Japan intervened unilaterally in September to weaken the yen with little success, and was joined by its G7 counterparts to do so again on March 18 after the yen struck a post-war high in the wake of the
Merida Industry Co (美利達) has seen signs of recovery in the US and European markets this year, as customers are gradually depleting their inventories, the bicycle maker told shareholders yesterday. Given robust growth in new orders at its Taiwanese factory, coupled with its subsidiaries’ improving performance, Merida said it remains confident about the bicycle market’s prospects and expects steady growth in its core business this year. CAUTION ON CHINA However, the company must handle the Chinese market with great caution, as sales of road bikes there have declined significantly, affecting its revenue and profitability, Merida said in a statement, adding that it would
MARKET LEADERSHIP: Investors are flocking to Nvidia, drawn by the company’s long-term fundamntals, dominant position in the AI sector, and pricing and margin power Two years after Nvidia Corp made history by becoming the first chipmaker to achieve a US$1 trillion market capitalization, an even more remarkable milestone is within its grasp: becoming the first company to reach US$4 trillion. After the emergence of China’s DeepSeek (深度求索) sent the stock plunging earlier this year and stoked concerns that outlays on artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure were set to slow, Nvidia shares have rallied back to a record. The company’s biggest customers remain full steam ahead on spending, much of which is flowing to its computing systems. Microsoft Corp, Meta Platforms Inc, Amazon.com Inc and Alphabet Inc are
RISING: Strong exports, and life insurance companies’ efforts to manage currency risks indicates the NT dollar would eventually pass the 29 level, an expert said The New Taiwan dollar yesterday rallied to its strongest in three years amid inflows to the nation’s stock market and broad-based weakness in the US dollar. Exporter sales of the US currency and a repatriation of funds from local asset managers also played a role, said two traders, who asked not to be identified as they were not authorized to speak publicly. State-owned banks were seen buying the greenback yesterday, but only at a moderate scale, the traders said. The local currency gained 0.77 percent, outperforming almost all of its Asian peers, to close at NT$29.165 per US dollar in Taipei trading yesterday. The
The US overtaking China as Taiwan’s top export destination could boost industrial development and wage growth, given the US is a high-income economy, an economist said yesterday. However, Taiwan still needs to diversify its export markets due to the unpredictability of US President Donald Trump’s administration, said Chiou Jiunn-rong (邱俊榮), an economics professor at National Central University. Taiwan’s exports soared to a record US$51.74 billion last month, driven by strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) products and continued orders, with information and communication technology (ICT) and audio/video products leading all sectors. The US reclaimed its position as Taiwan’s top export market, accounting for
RSS