Bessent says yen moves 'pretty contained' and not disorderly

U.S. Treasury ​Secretary Scott Bessent said ‌on Sunday ​recent yen moves were "pretty well contained," suggesting the Japanese currency's renewed slides were not seen ‌as the kind of disorderly moves that led to a rare joint Japan-U.S. intervention last month.

In an interview with Reuters, Bessent also said ‌he expects Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda to "do the right ‌thing" on monetary policy with the backing of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, when asked whether the central bank should consider consecutive interest rate hikes to combat yen declines. "I'm ⁠not ​going to tell ⁠them what to do," Bessent said, when asked whether the BOJ should hike rates ⁠more aggressively. "I'm going to say that I do think that we probably ​reached the end of Abenomics, which was a reflationary program."

Bessent said ⁠he plans to meet Ueda on the sidelines of the Group of 20 finance ⁠leaders' ​two-day gathering in Asheville, North Carolina, kicking off on Monday. "I've known him for 15 years. He's a great economist. I think ⁠he's under-rated in how savvy he is on markets," Bessent said on BOJ ⁠chief Ueda.

When ⁠asked whether the yen is still making disorderly moves, Bessent said: "Oh, no. I think it's pretty well ‌contained."