Japan May Have Sold Overseas Securities to Fund Forex Intervention

Odaily Planet Daily News Japan's holdings of overseas securities saw a significant decrease in May, suggesting that the Japanese government may have utilized overseas assets, including U.S. Treasuries, to fund its record-breaking currency market intervention over the past month. According to foreign exchange reserve data released by the Ministry of Finance on Friday, Japan's overseas securities holdings decreased by $75.6 billion compared to April.

As of the end of May, Japan's total foreign exchange reserves fell to $1.09 trillion. Foreign currency deposits, another potential source of intervention funds, remained largely unchanged at around $162 billion. It was previously confirmed that in the month leading up to May 28, Japan's intervention in the foreign exchange market reached a record high of 11.73 trillion yen (approximately $73.4 billion). (Jin Shi)