Japan has already spent approximately $34.5 billion to intervene in the yen exchange rate.

ME News Report, May 1st (UTC+8), based on an analysis of the Bank of Japan accounts, Japan may have mobilized approximately $34.5 billion on Thursday for its first exchange rate intervention since July 2024 to support the yen. By comparing the Bank of Japan accounts with forecast data from currency brokers, the scale of this intervention may be about 5.4 trillion yen. In 2024, Japanese authorities have intervened four times to support the yen, with an average of about 3.8 trillion yen each time. On Thursday evening, Japanese Finance Minister May Katayama warned that a “decisive action” was imminent, after which the yen appreciated sharply. Subsequently, an informed source revealed that authorities had entered the market to intervene. The central bank data released on Friday indicated that, due to fiscal factors, its current account is expected to decrease by 9.48 trillion yen next Thursday (the first working day after the Golden Week holiday). This decline is significantly larger than the approximately 4.08 trillion yen forecasted by Tokyo short-term funds, central short-term funds, and Ueda Yagi short-term funds among currency brokers. This is the first exchange rate intervention since May Katayama took office, and the market generally believes the initial effect has been significant, pushing the yen to appreciate by over 3%. However, this battle is far from over. Katayama also warned traders to stay alert; on Thursday, she stated that during the five-day Golden Week, they should preferably not put down their phones. (Source: PANews)