Japan Likely Sold Foreign Securities Including Treasuries to Fund Record Yen Intervention

Japan likely sold a portion of its holdings of foreign securities, including US Treasuries, to finance its record yen-support intervention over the past month, Bloomberg reported (Erica Yokoyama; also carried on The Japan Times). Tokyo’s holdings of foreign securities fell by $87.8 billion at the end of August from a month earlier, according to Finance Ministry reserve data released Monday. That decline was close to the scale of the recent intervention.

The ministry earlier confirmed authorities spent the equivalent of a monthly record ¥15.4 trillion ($98.6 billion) in the month through Aug. 26, with part of the operation conducted jointly with the United States. The monthly intervention is also the largest on record.

“Likely” Treasuries — MoF does not break that down

Finance Ministry data does not break the foreign-securities decline into Treasuries versus other holdings — that is the lock on this “likely” frame. Market participants estimate that roughly 70% of Japan’s foreign reserves are invested in US Treasuries — that estimate is color on the Japan Times page caption, not an MoF line item.

The Japan Times lede also notes the sales came despite concern in Washington over the impact of Treasury sales on long-term yields.

Takaichi adviser Aida’s BoJ September hike then quarterly path is a separate policy-path stamp — distinct from this MoF reserves / intervention tape.

GBP/JPY’s six-month low below 209.00 is a separate yen-cross tape — distinct from this BoJ / Japan / EUR-GBP note.

USD/JPY’s test near 154.00 is a separate European-session yen tape — distinct from this BoJ / Japan / GBP-JPY note.

Informational only. Not trading advice, signals, or a guarantee of any market outcome.