US and Japan jointly intervene to buy yen for the first time in nearly three decades

The United States and Japan jointly intervened in the foreign exchange market on 31 July 2026 to curb speculative selling of the yen and reduce excessive volatility. It was the first time in nearly three decades that Washington and Tokyo have jointly bought yen to support the currency, the last such operation dating back to the 1998 Asian financial crisis.

The dollar to yen rate, which had reached 163.92 on 29 July, fell to 157.98 after a first round of intervention by Japanese authorities on 30 July and ended that day 2.36% lower at 159.54. The joint intervention on 31 July took the pair from an intraday high of 160.89 down to 157.58, a decline of 1.23%. Japanese authorities spent approximately 8.45 trillion yen, or about $59 billion, during the 30 July operation.

The yen had weakened toward 164 per dollar, its lowest level in about 40 years, under pressure from the wide interest rate gap between Japan and the US and from higher energy import costs. The Bank of Japan has raised its policy rate to 1%, the highest level in 31 years. Japan is the largest foreign holder of US government debt, with holdings of approximately $1.14 trillion.