U.S. Keeps Japan, China on Forex Monitoring List

Washington, June 10 (Jiji Press)–The U.S. Treasury Department said Friday that Japan and China with large trade surpluses with the United States are kept on its monitoring list for foreign exchange activities.

Meanwhile, there was no major trading partner considered to have manipulated its currency to gain unfair advantage, according to a semiannual report released by the department.

Regarding Japan, the report noted a significant decrease in the value of the yen mainly due to interest rate differentials with the United States. On a real effective basis, the yen “currently sits near 50-year lows,” the report said.

“Japanese policymakers have provided an appropriately sizable fiscal and monetary response to support the economy” amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, the report said.

The department reiterated that “intervention should be reserved only for very exceptional circumstances with appropriate prior consultations.”

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]