Japan spends more than $30bn to prop up yen: reports

Published May 2, 2026 Updated May 2, 2026 11:42am

Japan spent at least 5 trillion yen ($32 billion) in the foreign exchange market, according to multiple reports, in its first intervention to prop up the currency since 2024, AFP reports.

The yen, trading just shy of 160 yen to the dollar, is close to its level from the summer of 2024, when Japanese authorities spent billions of dollars to boost its value.

Officials had hinted in recent days at potential intervention for the currency, which has weakened against the dollar in recent months amid the Iran war and rising oil prices, as well as the gap between US and Japanese interest rates.

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