FX Intervention Has Lost Its Taboo in Asia

You know the dollar is brawny when intervention isn’t whispered or inferred, but spoken plainly. That’s now the case in parts of Asia, where, despite the fashionable chatter about decoupling, the greenback’s vigor is proving uncomfortable.

Interest-rate increases are a tried, though painful, method of stemming the retreat in regional currencies that’s caused by the Federal Reserve’s hawkishness. The yen lost 3.4% last quarter and closed in on the level that prompted the Ministry of Finance to wade into the market almost a year ago, while Indonesia is trying to attract foreign money into the rupiah. The Philippines isn’t disguising an aversion to the peso weakening much beyond 57 per dollar.