The top currency diplomat's remarks were made following the U.S. dollar's spike to a seven-month high, past the 144 yen-mark, and came on the heels of similar warnings from other authorities about rapid, one-sided moves versus the dollar.
"We will closely watch developments in the currency market with a sense of increased urgency and respond appropriately if (forex) moves become excessive," Kanda told a press briefing.
The U.S. Federal Reserve and other major central banks in Europe are aggressively hiking their interest rates to tame inflation compared to the Bank of Japan's ultra-easy policy, which witness a widening interest rate gap between the countries, with the divergent policies a leading factor in the yen's weakness.
Numerous times in the previous year, the last being in October, Japan intervened into the currency market and launched yen-buying operations using U.S. dollars to redress the yen's weakness, with the forays into the market following a series of similar warnings such as those issued by financial authorities recently.
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