Japan is getting a new currency czar just as the yen trades near its weakest levels in almost four decades, Japanese Minister of Finance Shunichi Suzuki said.
Atsushi Mimura has been appointed as the new Japanese vice minister of finance for international affairs, making him the face of official efforts to manage the yen, as Masato Kanda steps down, Suzuki said yesterday.
The move, which takes effect on July 31, is part of a normal personnel rotation and would not affect the country’s broad currency policies. Mimura would almost certainly follow the same script as his predecessor in advocating for a stable currency that reflects economic fundamentals.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Still, the role involves delicate communications with media. Kanda emerged as a highly charismatic policy spokesman after assuming the position in 2021.
During his tenure, Kanda navigated the COVID-19 pandemic, historic yen weakness, the outbreak of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and Japan’s hosting of the G7 last year. He also oversaw a monthly record of ￥9.8 trillion in intervention to support the yen between late April and early last month, after the currency weakened past ￥160 to the US dollar.
The yen renewed a 38-year low earlier this week, touching ￥160.87 to the US dollar.
Weakness of the currency has spurred cost-push inflationary pressure through imports, generating widespread concern among business executives, officials and consumers. Japanese authorities stepped into the market at least twice since late April with a record amount of intervention.
In his new role, Mimura is to tackle multiple financial challenges, from ongoing global conflicts to debt and economic security.
The challenges include “the excessively weak yen, and two ongoing wars in Ukraine and the Middle East,” former Japanese vice minister of finance Tatsuo Yamasaki said. “The global economy is also facing a turning point in terms of monetary policy in Europe and the US. Under these circumstance, the vice finance minister will be involved in discussions on how to stabilize the global economy.”
There would be policy continuity, Yamasaki said.
In making statements about the economy or currencies, officials “are doing it as an organization under the guidance of the finance minister,” Yamasaki said. “The personnel changes won’t change this. People with the ability and experience to do it properly and with continuity are appointed to the position.”
KEEPING UP: The acquisition of a cleanroom in Taiwan would enable Micron to increase production in a market where demand continues to outpace supply, a Micron official said Micron Technology Inc has signed a letter of intent to buy a fabrication site in Taiwan from Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電) for US$1.8 billion to expand its production of memory chips. Micron would take control of the P5 site in Miaoli County’s Tongluo Township (銅鑼) and plans to ramp up DRAM production in phases after the transaction closes in the second quarter, the company said in a statement on Saturday. The acquisition includes an existing 12 inch fab cleanroom of 27,871m2 and would further position Micron to address growing global demand for memory solutions, the company said. Micron expects the transaction to
Vincent Wei led fellow Singaporean farmers around an empty Malaysian plot, laying out plans for a greenhouse and rows of leafy vegetables. What he pitched was not just space for crops, but a lifeline for growers struggling to make ends meet in a city-state with high prices and little vacant land. The future agriculture hub is part of a joint special economic zone launched last year by the two neighbors, expected to cost US$123 million and produce 10,000 tonnes of fresh produce annually. It is attracting Singaporean farmers with promises of cheaper land, labor and energy just over the border.
US actor Matthew McConaughey has filed recordings of his image and voice with US patent authorities to protect them from unauthorized usage by artificial intelligence (AI) platforms, a representative said earlier this week. Several video clips and audio recordings were registered by the commercial arm of the Just Keep Livin’ Foundation, a non-profit created by the Oscar-winning actor and his wife, Camila, according to the US Patent and Trademark Office database. Many artists are increasingly concerned about the uncontrolled use of their image via generative AI since the rollout of ChatGPT and other AI-powered tools. Several US states have adopted
A proposed billionaires’ tax in California has ignited a political uproar in Silicon Valley, with tech titans threatening to leave the state while California Governor Gavin Newsom of the Democratic Party maneuvers to defeat a levy that he fears would lead to an exodus of wealth. A technology mecca, California has more billionaires than any other US state — a few hundred, by some estimates. About half its personal income tax revenue, a financial backbone in the nearly US$350 billion budget, comes from the top 1 percent of earners. A large healthcare union is attempting to place a proposal before
RSS