Japan may have sold overseas securities to fund foreign exchange intervention

Odaily Odaily News The overseas securities held by Japan fell sharply in May, suggesting that the Japanese government may have used overseas assets, including U.S. Treasuries, to fund its record currency market intervention over the past month. According to foreign exchange reserve data released by Japan's Ministry of Finance on Friday, the country's holdings of overseas securities decreased by $75.6 billion compared to April.

Japan's total foreign exchange reserves fell to $1.09 trillion by the end of May. Foreign currency deposits, another potential source of intervention funding, remained largely unchanged at $162 billion. It was previously confirmed that Japan's intervention in the foreign exchange market hit a record high of 11.73 trillion yen (approximately $73.4 billion) in the month ending May 28. (Jinshi)