We couldn't not take account of this insisted the Government official

The Japanese authorities have surprised many analysts, yesterday, speaking for the first time in six years on the exchange markets in an attempt to bring down the yen, including the recent push would threaten, according to Tokyo, hopes for economic recovery. Visibly annoyed by a new appreciation of their currencies against the dollar in the early hours of the morning, the Government raised from 10: 30 (Tokyo time), with the Central Bank of the Japan (BoJ), a campaign of massive sale of yen and purchase of dollars on the markets. Very quickly, the Japanese currency, which evolved to its highest level against the greenback over the past fifteen years, in exchanging at a rate of 82,87 yen against 1 dollar, fell to the level of 85,40 yen against 1 dollar.

According to media reports, the Japanese authorities continued to intervene in the European places to bring down the yen and were likely to continue in the United States if necessary. At the end of European session yesterday, the Japanese currency is treated 85,57 yen against 1 dollar, down 3.2, and 111,26 yen against 1 euro, down 3.3.

Speaking to the press a few minutes after the first rumors, the Minister of finance, Yoshihiko Noda, confirmed well ordered intervention. "Deflation continues and we are in a serious economic situation," he explained. "In these circumstances, the recent movements of the yen had adverse effects on the stability of the economic and financial environment." "We couldn't not take account of this", insisted the Government official.

Cool speculators

Confirmation of this intervention, the major Japanese companies, who say that the soaring yen reduced the competitiveness of their products on international markets and begins their profits when their earnings are repatriated from abroad, welcomed the action of the Government while the Nikkei jumped 2.3 (see opposite). "We applaud the decision," thus commented the automaker Honda, who claims to have budgeted 87 yen for 1 dollar in its result for the current fiscal year 2010-2011 forecasts. While welcoming the gesture of the Government of Naoto Kan, the Sony Electronics giant called the Executive to be firm in the coming months because, insisted the group, companies may not indefinitely cash only outbreaks of the Japanese currency.

Attempting to reassure these companies with the hopes of growth of the country, the Minister of Finance has indicated that he was going to be very vigilant and would not hesitate to intervene again on foreign exchange markets if necessary ". Experts doubted however, yesterday evening, of the ability of Tokyo to stop the upward movement of the yen over the medium term, and without the aid of other capitals.

Government intervention should cool a time part of speculators, who had widely bet these months on a failure of the authorities, it could hit international trends and Japanese power does not control. International investors should indeed continue to massively buy Yen to protect themselves against economic difficulties perceived in the United States and Europe. In this uncertain period, they note that they are unlikely to suffer a decline in interest rates in the Japan, which are already near zero.