By Satoshi Sugiyama and Katya Golubkova
TOKYO, Feb 1 (Reuters) – Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has talked up the benefits of a weaker yen in a campaign speech, adopting a tone at odds with her finance ministry which has refused to rule out any options to counter excessive foreign exchange volatility.
Takaichi later softened her stance, saying she did not have a preference for the yen’s direction.
“People say the weak yen is bad right now, but for export industries, it’s a major opportunity,” Takaichi said on Saturday ahead of a snap election on February 8.
“Whether it’s selling food or automobiles, even though there were U.S. tariffs, the weaker yen has served as a buffer. That has helped us tremendously.”
Takaichi also expressed a desire to build an economic structure resilient to currency fluctuation by boosting domestic investment.
The yen has hovered at 18 month lows against the U.S. dollar, contributing to inflation that has raised the prospect of interest rate hikes by the central bank. Minister of Finance Satsuki Katayama has repeatedly said her ministry will take action to support the currency when necessary, which analysts and traders have widely interpreted as market intervention.
In an X post on Sunday, Takaichi said she did not favour a specific yen direction.
“I did not say which is better or worse – a strong yen or a weak yen,” Takaichi said in the post. She said the government is monitoring financial markets and, as prime minister, she will refrain from commenting specifically on the matter.
“My intention was solely to state that we aim to build an economic structure that is resilient to exchange-rate fluctuation, and not, as some reports have suggested, to emphasise the benefits of a weak yen.”
Former prime minister and finance minister Yoshihiko Noda, who co-heads the largest – and newly created – opposition party, the Centrist Reform Alliance, said a weak yen hurts households, Nikkei reported on Sunday.
“No one feels pleased while looking at their household budget amid an excessive weakening of the yen,” Nikkei quoted Noda as saying. “The perspective of ordinary people is missing, which has made me concerned once again.”
The yen spiked after reports that the New York Federal Reserve had joined the Japanese authorities in asking banks about exchange rates for yen purchases – queries that market participants often interpret as readiness to intervene.
The yen’s protracted decline and a recent surge in Japanese government bond yields to record highs reflect investor concern about Japan’s strained finances.
Takaichi is seeking a mandate for her mission to reflate the economy.
(Reporting by Satoshi Sugiyama and Katya Golubkova; Editing by William Mallard and Christopher Cushing)
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