Business & Finance
US Treasury’s Bessent calls on Japan to boost yen through interest rate hikes
Key Points
US Treasury’s Bessent calls on Japan to boost yen through interest rate hikes A weak yen, which has pushed up import prices and broader inflation, has been blamed in part on the slow pace of rate hikes by the BOJ The remarks to CNBC on Monday followed those by Bessent a day earlier, when said he expected BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda to “do the right thing” on monetary policy to combat yen declines. “I have information that the market doesn’t have, and it’s my belief that the Japanese government...
US Treasury’s Bessent calls on Japan to boost yen through interest rate hikes
A weak yen, which has pushed up import prices and broader inflation, has been blamed in part on the slow pace of rate hikes by the BOJ
The remarks to CNBC on Monday followed those by Bessent a day earlier, when said he expected BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda to “do the right thing” on monetary policy to combat yen declines.
“I have information that the market doesn’t have, and it’s my belief that the Japanese government and the BOJ will do the things that will lead to a stronger yen,” Bessent told CNBC in an interview during a Group of 20 finance leaders’ gathering in Asheville, North Carolina.
When asked whether that meant raising interest rates, Bessent said: “I think the market’s pricing that in now.”
The yen gained against the dollar after Bessent’s comments, which reinforced dominant market expectations the BOJ will raise rates at its next policy meeting in September.
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