Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said Japan’s financial leaders pledged to keep a close eye on the yen, stating that currency-market stability is crucial for both the country’s inflation and the global economy. Coordinated foreign-exchange intervention, conducted with the U.S., helps support global market stability, she said at a news conference after the Group of 20 financial leaders’ summit. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has spoken more publicly about the yen and his confidence in Bank of Japan Gov.

Kazuo Ueda’s policy-handling, which market participants interpret as tacit pressure to raise interest rates. Speaking with Ueda on the sidelines of the G-20 meeting, Bessent expressed support for Japan’s steps to address the yen’s undervaluation and noted its role in driving domestic inflation. Ueda said recent economic indicators align with the BOJ’s projections and reiterated his stance to consider further interest-rate hikes based on economic, price, and financial conditions.

With underlying inflation near the BOJ’s 2% target, he warned of the risk of overshooting and called foreign-exchange movements an upside risk factor requiring close attention. The yen traded at 160.20 against the dollar, near a 40-year low of 164, while 10-year Japanese government bond yields rose to 3% for the first time since September 1996.