TOKYO: Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said on Tuesday that authorities are not targeting absolute currency levels when it comes to intervening in the market.

Suzuki made the remark at a news conference when asked about the government’s stance on intervention as the dollar broke above the 145 yen threshold, a level that in September 2022 triggered Japan’s first yen-buying operation since 1998.

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Japan’s top forex diplomat Masato Kanda said later on Tuesday that he would take appropriate steps against excessive currency moves, repeating Suzuki’s similar comments, according to the Jiji news agency.

Kanda, the Vice Minister of Finance for International Affairs who supervised the country’s currency interventions late last year, said he was monitoring the market “with a high sense of urgency”, Jiji said.